1989 Brazilian presidential election

Background

On January 15, 1985, following two decades of a US-backed right-wing military dictatorship, in power since the 1964 Brazilian coup d'état, Tancredo Neves of the Brazilian Democratic Movement, the opposition party in a military junta-imposed two-party system, was indirectly elected president by Congress. The government was an authoritarian illiberal democracy which directly elected representatives, but not the president. It was in a process of slow liberalization since the 1974 indirect election of Ernesto Geisel, who was more permissive of political dissent than his hard-liner predecessor, Emílio Garrastazu Médici. Neves was the first civilian to be elected president since 1960.

However, Neves was hospitalized of an untreated cancer on the eve of his inauguration, and finally died in 21 April, before taking office. José Sarney, the Vice-president-elect, was immediately sworn in. The legitimacy of Sarney's appointment was widely questioned, since Neves had died as president-elect without ever taking office. Sarney was seen with suspicion by the civilian population as a member of the military regime's party, the National Renewal Alliance. The support of General Leônidas Pires Gonçalves, slated to be Minister of the Army in Neves' future cabinet, was decisive for Sarney taking office.

Nevertheless, as promised by Neves, Sarney led a transitional government which allowed for liberalization of the authoritarian military government. In 1986, he called for elections to form a constituent assembly, which designed and promulgated the seventh and current constitution of Brazil on October 5, 1988. A markedly liberal democratic and social democratic constitution, it prescribed first-past-the-post two-round direct elections for executive and legislative seats at the federal, state, and municipal levels, and set the date for the 1989 election. It also provided for freedom of expression and legalized formerly clandestine parties such as the Brazilian Communist Party and the Brazilian Socialist Party.

Candidates

Candidates in the runoff

Candidates not advanced to runoff

Campaign

Most political parties were relatively new but managed to actively mobilise the population, with the election coming five years after massive demonstrations for direct elections in the late 1980s Diretas Já movement had called for the end of the military regime. Sarney was barred by the 1988 constitution from running for immediate reelection as a vice president ascending to the office of president counts as a full term.

Twenty-two candidates entered the race, a record number of candidates in a single presidential election. The 1989 elections were the first in which the president and vice-president were jointly elected as running mates.

Among the twenty-two candidates, only Ulysses Guimarães and Paulo Maluf had previously run for the presidency, although Jânio Quadros planned to run but eventually dropped his candidacy. Aureliano Chaves had also previously served as vice-president. Orestes Quercia, a member of Sarney's Brazilian Democratic Movement, led the polls until he decided to drop out of the contest. TV host Silvio Santos announced he would run just 20 days before the election, but his candidacy was mired in uncertainty and eventually revoked by the Superior Electoral Court because of a technicality.

The first round took place on November 15, 1989, the 100th anniversary of the republican coup which deposed Pedro II of Brazil and proclaimed the First Brazilian Republic. Since no candidate managed to win a majority of votes, a second round was held on December 17, featuring the two top finishers: Fernando Collor de Mello of the economically liberal right-wing populist National Reconstruction Party and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of the social democratic left-wing populist Workers' Party.

Both candidates had a reputation as outsiders. Despite being a charismatic leader, Lula failed to attract the majority of votes from poor, unskilled and semiskilled workers – who would, later on, form the basis of the Workers' Party electorate. These voters predominantly favored Collor, who was associated with the traditional economic elites of northeastern Brazil. Lula's support was greater among progressive intellectuals, Catholic activists, skilled industrial workers, and the college-educated middle class of the South and Southeast, despite himself being a poor immigrant from the Northeast.

Collor argued that Lula's plans of aggressive spending on inequality reduction programs would destroy Brazil's then-fragile economy, harming the poor people he claimed to champion. He also appealed to his young age and distanced himself from the previous military governments, as well as from the newer political elites who had supported the Sarney government and its Plano Cruzado, which had failed to stop hyperinflation.

After Leonel Brizola was defeated in the first round, he supported Lula, with his support being considered crucial to Lula's strong performance in Rio Grande do Sul in the second round.

Ultimately, Collor was elected with a six-point lead. His initial widespread support, based on his strong rhetoric against corruption, quickly vanished in the wake of his 1992 impeachment for corruption charges, leading to Collor resigning from office in an unsuccessful attempt to stop the proceedings. Lula would go on to be elected president for the first time in the 2002 elections, win a second term in the 2006 contest and be elected president for the second time in the 2022 elections. The Workers' Party also won the presidency twice more with Dilma Rousseff, a protégé of Lula, in the 2010 and 2014 elections. The party would remain in power until her impeachment in 2016 and the 2018 election of right-wing populist Jair Bolsonaro.

Debates

First round

Following the first round, Rede Globo aired a debate between Lula and Collor live. During the broadcast of primetime news program Jornal Nacional on the following day, an edited-down highlight reel of the debate was aired. Critics argued that it highlighted Collor's best moments and Lula's worst ones, and that coverage was sympathetical to Collor, who was supposedly close to Globo's CEO Roberto Marinho. The event was explored on the British Channel 4 documentary Beyond Citizen Kane, which features an interview with then head of journalism at Globo, Armando Nogueira, where he says his edit of the debate was edited so as to favor Collor and claims that after complaining to Marinho about the edit, he was dismissed from the company.

Some attribute Collor's electoral victory to this particular event and other media coverage, such as a Jornal do Brasil article claiming Lula had fathered an illegitimate daughter. Later, Collor's campaign contacted Lula's ex-girlfriend, the mother of the child in question, and claimed that Lula had asked her to perform an abortion. This is said to be compounded by a prohibition on electoral advertising immediately preceding an election, which prevented Lula from responding to the accusations.

The kidnapping of wealthy businessman Abilio Diniz on the day of the election by alleged supporters of PT is believed to have harmed Lula, who was legally forbidden from speaking to the press on election day to disavow the crime due to Brazilian election rules.

A 2023 study found that Rede Globo's media coverage on the eve of the election led Lula to lose millions of votes.

Second round

Opinion polls

First round

Second round

Results

Fernando Collor received the most votes in most states, except for the Federal District, where Lula came first, and Rio de Janeiro, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, won by Leonel Brizola. In the second round, Lula won in Rio Grande do Sul, Rio de Janeiro, the Federal District, and his home state of Pernambuco, whilst Collor carried every other state.

By federative unit

First round

Second round

Notes

References

References

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4. (2018-08-20). "Roadmap to Brazil's presidency: win in Minas Gerais".
5. "Fernando Collor De Mello {{!}} Encyclopedia.com".
6. (August 2018). "Sindicalismo do ABC e a Era Lula: Contradições e Resistências". Lua Nova: Revista de Cultura e Política.
7. Elizangela. (2018-01-21). "Brizola 1989: eleições livres ou golpe?".
8. Richard Bourne. (19 October 2009). "Lula of Brazil: The Story So Far". University of California Press.
9. "Eleições 2006 – Com votação recorde, Lula chega ao segundo mandato". [[Grupo Globo]].
10. Jacky Picard, ed. ''Le Brésil de Lula: Les défis d'un socialisme démocratique à la périphérie du capitalisme''. Paris: Khartala, 2003, page 81
11. Brooke, James. (1989-12-13). "Polls Show Brazilian Leftist Candidate Closing Gap as Election Day Nears (Published 1989)". The New York Times.
12. (2023). "Media Manipulation in Young Democracies: Evidence From the 1989 Brazilian Presidential Election". Comparative Political Studies.
13. (1992-12-30). "Brazil President Resigns in Wake of Impeachment".
14. "A eleição de 2018 será como a de 1989? Sim e não, segundo o UBS | EXAME".
15. "Há 25 anos, Silvio Santos tentou presidência; você votaria?".
16. Wendy Hunter, ''The Transformation of the Workers' Party in Brazil, 1989–2009''. Cambridge University Press, 2010, {{ISBN. 978-0-521-51455-2, page 111
17. Globo, Acervo-Jornal O.. "Sequestro do empresário Abilio Diniz agitou campanha presidencial em 1989".
18. [http://www.electoralgeography.com/new/en/countries/b/brazil/brazil-presidential-election-1989.html Brazil. Presidential Election 1989] {{Webarchive. link. (2014-07-07 Electoral Geography)
19. "Partido Municipalista Brasileiro (PMB)".