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Supporters of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva gather in Rio de Janeiro on Oct. 25 (local time) to watch the election results as Brazil holds its presidential runoff. / Reuters, Yonhap

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has secured a historic fourth term, becoming the first president in the country's constitutional history to achieve the feat.

According to Brazil's Superior Electoral Court (TSE), Lula secured reelection in the presidential runoff held on Oct. 25 (local time), winning 51.77% of the vote against Senator Flávio Bolsonaro's 48.23%, with 99.89% of votes counted.

Lula, who first took office in 2003, will now serve as president for a fourth term.

The result marked an unexpected reversal. In the first round of voting on Oct. 4, Bolsonaro finished ahead of Lula with 47.03% of the vote, compared with Lula's 45.16%, advancing to the runoff in first place.

This marks the first time since Brazil's return to democracy in 1985 that a candidate who finished second in the first round has come from behind to win the runoff.

Lula, who will keep a left-wing government in power amid a broader rightward shift in Latin America, is set to begin his new term on Jan. 5 next year.

                                                                                                             Kim Hyun-min