Rousseff elected Brazil's first female president - Channel NewsAsia
Dilma Rousseff, a 62-year-old grandmother who was jailed in the 1970s for guerrilla activities, was elected as Brazil's first female president on Sunday.
Rousseff succeeded her mentor and outgoing leftist leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
She beat her rival, former Sao Paulo state governor Jose Serra, in a runoff with 56 per cent of the vote, according to an official tally of 95 per cent of ballots.
The career civil servant, who served as Lula's cabinet chief before leaving in April to contest the election, will take charge of Latin America's biggest country on January 1 next year.
Lula, 65, is required to step down then, having completed the maximum two consecutive terms permitted by law.
He has not said what he plans to do. He is retiring with a popularity rating above 80 per cent and a high global profile.
Speculation was swirling that he might accept an international post, or stand by as an informal advisor to Rousseff as she runs the country, though he has downplayed those scenarios.
"There is no possibility of an ex-president participating in a government," Lula said when he voted on Sao Paulo's outskirts, where he started out as a factory metalworker and union leader.
Rousseff will have "to form a government in her image. I only hope that she does more than I did," he said.
Rousseff has none of Lula's charisma or negotiating skills.
But she does have a such a reputation for fierce determination that Brazil's media have nicknamed her the "Iron Lady," in the mould of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher.
She developed her political spine when she started out as an active militant opposed to the 1964-1985 military dictatorship that ruled Brazil.
She was arrested in January 1970 and sentenced to six years in prison for belonging to a violent underground group responsible for murders and bank robberies.
After nearly three years behind bars, during which she said she was tortured by electric shocks, she was released at the end of 1972. She continued her political path and eventually joined Lula's Workers Party in 1986.
After Lula became president in 2002, he named Rousseff his energy minister and then, in 2005, his cabinet chief -- a post analogous to prime minister.
Rousseff has vowed to maintain Lula's policies, which over the past eight years have brought prosperity and financial stability to Brazil, and lifted 29 million people out of poverty.
Her biggest immediate challenges will be preparing the country to host the 2014 football World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, both awarded under Lula's deft lobbying.
She will also have to steer Brazil through tricky economic waters.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments
(
Atom
)
Popular Posts Last Week
-
A fascinating and informative description of one man's voyage to clean up the oceans and his discovery that plastic is the heart of the ...
-
Dozens of Gulf Coast residents and oil spill clean-up workers showed up at BP's unified command center downtown to call for action Thurs...
-
To mark the second annual Nelson Mandela International Day on Monday 18 July, the United Nations is encouraging people around the globe to ...
-
Croatian authorities have evacuated more than 200 people after fires engulfed pine forests on the Adriatic island of Brac. The state rescue ...
-
The US space agency has sent an unmanned spacecraft on a five-year journey to Jupiter to gather clues on how the solar system was formed. Na...
-
Air-conditioned clothes are an unprecedented type of clothing equipped with an air conditioning device that uses the natural physiological c...
-
This video features 52 of the most interesting potential transportation solutions for the future. Developed by all sorts of organisations fr...
-
Kelly Osbourne's paid tribute to her BFF Amy Winehouse in an emotional tweet.
-
Captain Planet, he’s our hero, gonna take pollution down to zero!” If you are over the age of 30, those lyrics may mean nothing to you – but...
-
In New Orleans: Recovering From a Post-Katrina 'Brain Drain' : News : Breaking : Climate Central
Popular Posts This Month
-
Some 15 million people are affected by the crisis in the Sahel region, and one million of these are children that could die within months wi...
-
New York City's current and former mayors highlight the revitalization of lower Manhattan in the days leading up to the 10th anniversary...
-
National Wildlife Federation Naturalist David Mizejewski explores the relationship between sea ice and polar bears. As continued global warm...
-
In New Orleans: Recovering From a Post-Katrina 'Brain Drain' : News : Breaking : Climate Central
-
This video features 52 of the most interesting potential transportation solutions for the future. Developed by all sorts of organisations fr...
-
A fascinating and informative description of one man's voyage to clean up the oceans and his discovery that plastic is the heart of the ...
-
Dozens of Gulf Coast residents and oil spill clean-up workers showed up at BP's unified command center downtown to call for action Thurs...
-
To mark the second annual Nelson Mandela International Day on Monday 18 July, the United Nations is encouraging people around the globe to ...
-
Croatian authorities have evacuated more than 200 people after fires engulfed pine forests on the Adriatic island of Brac. The state rescue ...
Popular Posts All Time
-
National Wildlife Federation Naturalist David Mizejewski explores the relationship between sea ice and polar bears. As continued global warm...
-
New York City's current and former mayors highlight the revitalization of lower Manhattan in the days leading up to the 10th anniversary...
-
Leuk idee om de aandacht op een bedrijf te vestigen. Wire & Twine maakte een op zich mooi overzicht van 50 manieren waarmee ze u willen ...
-
In New Orleans: Recovering From a Post-Katrina 'Brain Drain' : News : Breaking : Climate Central
-
NS en Greenwheels lanceren samen de eerste twee Volkswagen e-Golfs. De elektrische deelauto’s zijn vanaf donderdag 13 september te vinden bi...
-
Hundreds of young people converged on the United Nations in New York today as the General Assembly kicked off a high-level meeting devoted t...
-
At IBM's THINK Forum in NYC, Joshua Cooper Ramo, Managing Director, Kissinger Associates comments on not letting the risks of a networke...
-
Persons with disabilities must enjoy full human rights and fundamental freedoms and enabling them to do so benefits society as a whole, Depu...
-
Bridget van Kralingen, General Manager, IBM North America discusses Making the World Work Better at the IBM THINK Forum
-
Never before has a time in history been so significant to so many cultures, religions, scientists and governments. Beyond 2012 looks past th...
No comments :
Post a Comment