Jail term to third term: Lula's ups and downs in Brazil defy belief

Four years ago, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's reputation and political future were in tatters. After an unlikely rise from poverty to union leader to Brazil's presidency, the man universally known as Lula had landed in prison.

On Sunday — in yet another twist — Brazilian voters chose him by the narrowest of margins to once again lead the world's fourth-largest democracy. He will also be putting his legacy on the line.

“They tried to bury me alive, and I am here,” da Silva said in a speech on Sunday night after results that confirmed his third presidential win.

“I am here to govern in a very difficult situation. But I have faith in God that, with our people’s help, we will find a way out for this country.” The life of da Silva has unfolded in such a unique, extraordinary way that, were it fiction, it would strain credulity.

His family moved from Brazil’s poor northeast region to Sao Paulo state in pursuit of a better life, following his father who had travelled south years before.

Upon arriving, however, they found he had settled down with another woman.

After 580 days imprisonment, da Silva was a free man — free to marry his girlfriend, and free to run for the presidency.

That didn’t stop incumbent Bolsonaro, seeking a second term, from reminding voters of da Silva’s convictions at every turn, warning that electing him would be like letting a thief return to the scene of the crime.

It revitalized semi-dormant sentiment against the Workers’ Party, and the fact that much of Brazil still holds da Silva in disdain is a key reason this year’s contest between the two political titans grew ever closer.

Ultimately, it came down to the wire: da Silva was elected, for the third time, with 50.9 per cent of the vote. It was the tightest election since Brazil's return to democracy over three decades ago.

He will take office on January 1, and has said he won't seek re-election. That means this presidential term could be his final act.

“It is not the number of years that makes someone old. What makes you old is the lack of a cause,” said da Silva, who turned 77 three days before the vote. “Brazil is my cause. The Brazilian people are my cause.”