Rousseff Wins Brazil’s Elections, Vows to Continue Political Reform

BRASILIA-President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil has been re-elected for another term with over 51 percent of the vote in a tight presidential run-off on Sunday, according to RT.

Rousseff, who has been in power since 2011, has been re-elected for a second term, winning 51.6 percent of the vote according to the official tally. With over 99 percent of the ballots counted, her opponent, the centrist opposition leader Aecio Neves got 48.4 percent.

Rousseff secured her victory with wide support from the country’s poor: some 40 million people have been lifted from the brink of poverty due to social reforms and the economic boom since 2003, when her Worker’s Party came to power. “Thank you very much,” Rousseff tweeted after the results were announced.

The victory speech of President Rousseff emphasizes reconciliation and consensus to move Brazil to reform, changes and dialogue. “Among all reforms, the most important should be the political reform,” said Rousseff.

“This president is open to dialogue. This is the top priority of my second mandate,” Rousseff said in her victory speech to a crowd that exploded in celebrations in the capital Brasilia. “I want to be a much better president than I have been to date,” she told the rally, issuing “a call for peace and unity.”

H. Mustafa