1989 Brazilian presidential election

1989 Brazilian presidential election

← 1985 15 November 1989 (first round) 17 December 1989 (second round) 1994 →
Turnout	88.07% (first round) 85.61% (second round)
Candidate Fernando Collor Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Party PRN PT Home state Alagoas[a] São Paulo[b] Running mate Itamar Franco José Paulo Bisol States carried 23 3 + DF Popular vote 35,085,457 31,070,734 Percentage 53.03% 46.97%
Second round winner by state/district.
President before election José Sarney PMDB Elected President Fernando Collor PRN

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The 1989 Brazilian presidential election was held in two rounds, with the first round being held on November 15, 1989 and the second round being held on December 17, 1989. It was the first direct presidential elections since 1960, the first to be held using a two-round system and the first to take place under the 1988 constitution, which followed two decades of authoritarian rule after the 1964 Brazilian coup d'état.

The collapse of the military junta-imposed two-party system^[1] that pitted the right-wing authoritarian National Renewal Alliance (ARENA) against the catch-all Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB) resulted in a wide array of new parties seeking to fill the political vacuum. President José Sarney of the PMDB, the MBD's successor, was ineligible to run. Sarney, who was elected Vice President on Tancredo Neves's ticket in the 1985 Brazilian presidential election, had taken office due to Neves's death before his scheduled inauguration.^[2]

Popular Governor of Alagoas Fernando Collor de Mello resigned from his position to mount a bid for the presidency.^[3] Previously a member of the PMDB, Collor joined the small National Reconstruction Party (PRN) in the run-up to the presidential campaign. Collor, who presented himself as a political outsider and was noted for his charisma,^[4] polled at a mere 5% according to polling taken in early 1989.^[5] Collor's emergence as an unlikely frontrunner was credited to his campaign's skilled use of television advertisements to make the case for his candidacy.^[6] Collor, who had governed one of the smallest states in the country, chose Senator Itamar Franco of the populous and electorally crucial state of Minas Gerais as his running mate.^[7] Further, Collor's campaign was noted for his relative youth at the mere age of 40.^[8]

Following the end of state repression of socialist parties, the Brazilian Left faced a fractured field defined by two primary candidates: Popular labor leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, known as Lula, of the industrial ABC Region of São Paulo,^[9] and Leonel Brizola, a longtime staple of the Brazilian Left who had served as Governor of Rio Grande do Sul prior to the 1964 military coup.^[10] Lula was widely known in Brazil for his role leading the highly publicized metalworkers' strike in the State of São Paulo during the late 1970s^[11] and had been elected a federal deputy in 1986 with the most votes nationwide.^[12] Lula ran as a member of the Workers' Party (PT), a left-wing party he helped found in 1980. For his running mate, Lula chose Senator José Paulo Bisol of Rio Grande do Sul, a member of the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB), to unite the left. In the first round, Lula narrowly defeated Brizola, who was running as a member of the Brazilian Labour Party (PDT), for a position in the runoff.^[13]

The general election was marked by negative campaigning, with Collor accusing Lula of supporting divisive class struggle.^[14] The role of popular commercial television Rede Globo in Collor's election remains controversial; in 2009 Collor admitted that the network favored his candidacy over Lula's.^[15] The kidnapping of wealthy businessman Abilio Diniz on the day of the election by alleged supporters of the 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.^[16] Following a tumultuous election cycle, Collor defeated Lula to become the first democratically-elected President of Brazil in almost thirty years. Collor would later resign from office in the face of an impeachment trial.^[17]

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,^{[citation needed]} 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.^{[citation needed]}

Though Leonel Brizola was disappointed by his defeat in the first round, he wholeheartedly supported Lula in the second round, with his support being considered crucial to Lula's strong performance in Rio Grande do Sul and Brizola's adopted home state of Rio de Janeiro.^[18]

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 November 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.

History[]

Most political parties were relatively new but managed to actively mobilise the population,^{[citation needed]} 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 in his own right. Twenty-two candidates entered the race, a record number of candidates in a single presidential election. The 1988 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.^[19] 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.^[20]

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. Collor was elected with a 6-point lead.

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.^{[citation needed]}

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 , which had failed to stop hyperinflation. His strong rhetoric against corruption gained widespread support,^{[citation needed]} which quickly vanished^{[citation needed]} in the wake of his 1992 impeachment for corruption charges.

Lula would go on to be elected president in the 2002 elections and to win a second term in the 2006 contest. 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.

Rede Globo debate controversy[]

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^[who?] 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.^{[citation needed]}

Candidates[]

Candidates in runoff[]

#		Party/coalition	Presidential candidate		Political office(s)	Vice-Presidential candidate
	13	"Popular Brazil Front" PT, PSB, PCdoB		Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT)	Federal Deputy from São Paulo 1987–91; PT National President 1980–88		José Paulo Bisol (PSB)
	20	"New Brazil Movement" PRN, PSC, PST, PTR		Fernando Collor (PRN)	Governor of Alagoas 1987–89; Federal Deputy from Alagoas 1983–87; Mayor of Maceió 1979–83		Itamar Franco (PRN)

Candidates failing to make runoff[]

#		Party/coalition	Presidential candidate		Political office(s)	Vice-Presidential candidate
	11	Democratic Social Party (PDS)		Paulo Maluf (PDS)	Federal Deputy from São Paulo 1983–87; Governor of São Paulo 1979–82; President of Trade Association of São Paulo 1976–79; State Secretary of Transports of São Paulo 1971–75; Mayor of São Paulo 1969–71; President of Federal Savings Bank 1967–69		Bonifácio Andrada (PDS)
	12	Democratic Labour Party (PDT)		Leonel Brizola (PDT)	Governor of Rio de Janeiro 1983–87; Federal Deputy from Guanabara 1963–64; Governor of Rio Grande do Sul 1959–63; Mayor of Porto Alegre 1956–58; Federal Deputy from Rio Grande do Sul 1955–56; State Deputy of Rio Grande do Sul 1947–55		Fernando Lyra (PDT)
	14	Brazilian Labour Party (PTB)		Affonso Camargo Neto (PTB)	Senator for Paraná 1979–95; Minister of Transports 1985–86; Vice Governor of Paraná 1964–65		Paiva Muniz (PTB)
	15	Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB)		Ulysses Guimarães (PMDB)	Federal Deputy from São Paulo 1951–92; President of the National Constituent Assembly 1987–88, President of the Chamber of Deputies 1956–58, 1985–89; Minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade 1961–62; State Deputy of São Paulo 1947–51		Waldir Pires (PMDB)
	16	Party of the Brazilian People (PPB)		Antônio dos Santos Pedreira (PPB)	–		José Fortunaro da França (PPB)
	22	"Christian Liberal Alliance" PL, PDC		Afif Domingos (PL)	Federal Deputy from São Paulo 1987–91		Aluísio Pimenta (PDC)
	23	Brazilian Communist Party (PCB)		Roberto Freire (PCB)	Federal Deputy from Pernambuco 1979–95; State Deputy of Pernambuco 1975–79		Sérgio Arouca (PCB)
	25	Liberal Front Party (PFL)		Aureliano Chaves (PFL)	Minister of Mines and Energy 1985–88; Vice President of Brazil 1979–85; Governor of Minas Gerais 1975–78; Federal Deputy from Minas Gerais 1967–75; State Deputy of Minas Gerais 1959–67		Cláudio Lembo (PFL)
	26	Brazilian Municipalist Party (PMB)		Armando Corrêa (PMB)	–		Agostinho Linhares (PMB)
	27	Nacionalist Party (PN)		Lívia Maria Pio (PN)	–		Ardwin Retto Grunewald (PN)
	31	National Communitary Party (PCN)		Zamir Teixeira (PCN)	–		William Pereira da Silva (PCN)
	33	Party of National Mobilization (PMN)		Celso Brant (PMN)	Federal Deputy from Minas Gerais 1959–63; Minister of Education 1956		José Emídio Neto (PMN)
	41	"City-Field Union" PSD, PDN		Ronaldo Caiado (PSD)	–		Camilo Calazans (PDN)
	42	Social Progressive Party (PSP)		José Alcides de Oliveira (PSP)	–		Reinau Valim (PSP)
	43	Green Party (PV)		Fernando Gabeira (PV)	–		Maurício Lobo Abreu (PV)
	45	Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB)		Mário Covas (PSDB)	Senator for São Paulo 1987–95; Mayor of São Paulo 1983–86; Federal Deputy from São Paulo 1962–66, 1967–69, 1982–83		Almir Gabriel (PSDB)
	54	People's Party (PP)		Paulo Gontijo (PP)	–		Luís Paulino (PP)
	55	Liberal Progressive Party (PLP)		Eudes Oliveira Mattar (PLP)	–		Daniel Lazzeroni Jr. (PLP)
	56	Party of the Reconstruction of the National Order (PRONA)		Enéas Carneiro (PRONA)	PRONA National President 1989–2006		Lenine Madeira (PRONA)
	57	Party of the Christian Democracy of Brazil (PDCdoB)		Manoel Horta (PDCdoB)	–		Jorge Coelho de Sá (PDCdoB)

Debates[]

First round[]

Date	Host	Moderator	Afif Domingos (PL)	Affonso Camargo (PTB)	Aureliano Chaves (PFL)	Fernando Collor (PRN)	Leonel Brizola (PDT)	Lula (PT)	Mário Covas (PSDB)	Paulo Maluf (PDS)	Roberto Freire (PCB)	Ronaldo Caiado (PSD)	Ulysses Guimarães (PMDB)
17 July 1989	Rede Bandeirantes	Marília Gabriela	Present	Present	Present	Absent	Present	Present	Present	Present	Present	Present	Absent
14 August 1989	Rede Bandeirantes	Marília Gabriela	Present	Invited to second debate	Present	Invited to second debate	Present	Invited to second debate	Invited to second debate	Present	Present	Invited to second debate	Invited to second debate
15 August 1989			Invited to first debate	Present	Invited to first debate	Absent	Invited to first debate	Present	Present	Invited to first debate	Invited to first debate	Present	Present
16 October 1989	Rede Bandeirantes	Marília Gabriela	Present	Not invited	Absent	Absent	Present	Present	Present	Present	Present	Present	Absent
5 November 1989	Rede Bandeirantes	Marília Gabriela	Present	Not invited	Absent	Absent	Present	Present	Present	Present	Present	Present	Absent
12 November 1989	SBT	Boris Casoy	Present	Not invited	Absent	Absent	Present	Present	Present	Present	Present	Present	Absent

Second round[]

Date	Host	Moderator	Fernando Collor (PRN)	Lula (PT)
3 December 1989	Rede Manchete	Alexandre Garcia Boris Casoy Eliakim Araújo Marília Gabriela	Present	Present
14 December 1989	Rede Bandeirantes	Alexandre Garcia Boris Casoy Eliakim Araújo Marília Gabriela	Present	Present

Opinion polling[]

First round[]

Polling aggregates

Active candidates

Fernando Collor (PRN)

Lula (PT)

Leonel Brizola (PDT)

Mário Covas (PSDB)

Paulo Maluf (PDS)

Afif Domingos (PL)

Ulysses Guimarães (PMDB)

Others

Abstentions/Undecided

Pollster/client(s)	Date(s) conducted	Sample size	Collor PRN	Lula PT	Brizola PDT	Covas PSDB	Maluf PDS	Afif PL	Guimarães PMDB	Others	Abst. Undec.	Lead
1989 election	15 Nov	–	30.47%	17.18%	16.51%	11.51%	8.85%	4.83%	4.73%	5.68%	6.44%	13.29%
Datafolha	15 Nov[c]	10,645	30%	18%	14%	10%	8%	4%	4%	–	6%	12%
Datafolha	14 Nov	–	26%	15%	14%	11%	9%	5%	5%	4%	11%	11%
Datafolha	10 Nov	–	27%	15%	14%	11%	9%	5%	4%	5%	10%	12%
Datafolha	6–7 Nov	–	25%	15%	14%	9%	7%	4%	4%	13%[d]	9%	10%
Datafolha	1–3 Nov	–	21%	14%	13%	9%	7%	4%	4%	17%[e]	13%	7%
Datafolha	25–26 Oct	5,251	26%	14%	15%	9%	9%	5%	4%	5%[f]	13%	11%
Datafolha	18–19 Oct	5,261	26%	14%	15%	8%	9%	7%	3%	5%[g]	13%	11%
Datafolha	7–8 Oct	4,893	29%	10%	13%	7%	8%	8%	3%	4%[g]	17%	16%
Datafolha	23–24 Sep	5,057	33%	7%	15%	6%	7%	7%	3%	5%[g]	17%	18%
Datafolha	2–3 Sep	4,981	40%	6%	14%	5%	8%	5%	2%	4%[g]	16%	26%
Datafolha	19–20 Aug	5,079	41%	5%	14%	5%	7%	3%	3%	4%[g]	18%	27%
Datafolha	22–23 Jul	5,156	38%	6%	12%	6%	7%	2%	4%	4%[g]	21%	26%
Datafolha	1–2 Jul	10,212	40%	7%	12%	6%	5%	2%	5%	5%[h]	18%	28%
Datafolha	3–4 Jun	10,447	42%	7%	11%	5%	4%	1%	5%	4%[h]	21%	31%
Datafolha	23–24 Apr	10,421	14%	12%	13%	6%	5%	1%	–	24%[i]	21%	4%

Second round[]

Polling aggregates

Active candidates

Fernando Collor (PRN)

Lula (PT)

Abstentions/Undecided

Pollster/client(s)	Date(s) conducted	Sample size	Collor PRN	Lula PT	Abst. Undec.	Lead
1989 election	17 Dec	–	53.03%	46.97%	5.42%	6.06%
Datafolha	17 Dec[c]	11,995	51.5%	48.5%	–	3.0%
Datafolha	16 Dec	11,995	47%	44%	10%	3%
Datafolha	12–13 Dec	5,250	46%	45%	9%	1%
Datafolha	8 Dec	5,250	47%	44%	9%	3%
Datafolha	4 Dec	5,250	49%	41%	10%	9%
Datafolha	30 Nov	5,250	50%	40%	10%	10%
Datafolha	22 Nov	5,716	48%	39%	13%	9%

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 Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Rio de Janeiro, the Federal District, and his home state of Pernambuco, whilst Collor won the most votes in every other state.^[21]

Candidate		Party	Running mate	Party	First round		Second round
					Votes	%	Votes	%
	Fernando Collor	PRN	Itamar Franco	PRN	20,607,936	30.47	35.085.457	53.03
	Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva	PT	José Paulo Bisol	PSB	11,619,816	17.18	31,070,734	46.97
	Leonel Brizola	PDT	Fernando Lyra	PDT	11,166,016	16.51
	Mário Covas	PSDB	Almir Gabriel	PSDB	7,786,939	11.51
	Paulo Maluf	PDS	Bonifácio de Andrada	PDS	5,986,012	8.85
	Afif Domingos	PL	Aluísio Pimenta	PDC	3,271,986	4.83
	Ulysses Guimarães	PMDB	Waldir Pires	PMDB	3,204,853	4.73
	Roberto Freire	PCB	Sérgio Arouca	PCB	768,803	1.13
	Aureliano Chaves	PFL	Cláudio Lembo	PFL	600,730	0.88
	Ronaldo Caiado	PSD	Camilo Calazans	PDN	488,872	0.72
	Affonso Camargo Neto	PTB	Paiva Muniz	PTB	379,262	0.56
	Enéas Carneiro	PRONA	Lenine Madeira	PRONA	360,561	0.53
	José Alcides de Oliveira	PSP	Reinau Valim	PSP	238,425	0.33
	Paulo Gontijo	PP	Luís Paulino	PP	198,719	0.29
	Zamir Teixeira	PCN	William Pereira da Silva	PCN	187,155	0.27
	Lívia Maria Pio	PN	Ardwin Retto Grunewald	PN	179,922	0.26
	Eudes Oliveira Mattar	PLP	Daniel Lazzeroni Jr.	PLP	162,350	0.24
	Fernando Gabeira	PV	Maurício Lobo Abreu	PV	125,842	0.18
	Celso Brant	PMN	José Emídio Neto	PMN	109,909	0.16
	Antônio dos Santos Pedreira	PPB	José Fortunato da França	PPB	86,144	0.12
	Manoel Horta	PDCdoB	Jorge Coelho de Sá	PDCdoB	83,286	0.12
	Armando Corrêa	PMB	Agostinho Linhares de Souza	PMB	4,363	0.01
	Sílvio Santos	PMB	Marcondes Gadêlha	PMB	0	0.00	Rejected candidacy
Invalid/blank votes					4,649,897	−	4,094,339	−
Total					72,277,408	100	70,250,194	100
Registered voters/turnout					82,056,226	88.07	82,056,226	85.61

Popular vote (first round) Collor   30.47% Lula   17.18% Brizola   16.51% Covas   11.51% Maluf   8.85% Afif   4.83% Guimarães   4.73% Others   6.44%

Popular vote (second round) Collor   53.03% Lula   46.97%

Notes[]

References[]

External links[]

• "The Presidential Election of 1989" by U.S. Library of Congress
• "Electoral Geography 2.0 - Brazilian Presidential Election 1989" (votes by state)
• "Brazil 1989 Presidential Election"
• A case study on 1989 Brazilian presidential elections, The University of Oxford