Credit : Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's X
PUTRAJAYA, October 26, 2026 – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has congratulated Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on his election victory, calling the result historic and saying Malaysia looks forward to working closely with Brazil under Lula’s continued leadership.
In a message shared on X on Monday, Anwar described Lula as his “dear friend” and said the vote had been “a hard-fought contest that has given him a renewed mandate from the Brazilian people to lead their great nation.”
https://x.com/anwaribrahim/status/2114558994664882638
“His lifelong commitment to social justice, to reducing poverty and to ensuring that the voices of developing countries are heard has earned respect well beyond Brazil,” the Prime Minister wrote. “I have always valued our friendship, and I share his conviction that the Global South must have a stronger voice in shaping a fairer international order.”
Anwar said there was much the two countries could do together, pointing to “strengthening trade and investment, advancing cooperation between ASEAN and Latin America and giving greater substance to the partnership between our two countries.” The post was accompanied by a photograph of the two leaders shaking hands.
Lula, of the Workers’ Party (PT), defeated right-wing senator Flávio Bolsonaro of the Liberal Party (PL) in Sunday’s runoff, securing a record fourth term as president. With 98.3 per cent of districts counted, Lula had 51.75 per cent of the vote, or 63,049,525 votes, against 48.25 per cent, or 58,795,080 votes, for Bolsonaro, according to official count figures reported by The Guardian. The victory marked a turnaround from the first round on October 4, when Bolsonaro finished ahead with 47.03 per cent of valid votes to Lula’s 45.16 per cent, according to Brazilian media. The final result is due to be confirmed by Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court (TSE).
Anwar’s message comes almost exactly a year after Lula’s first official visit to Malaysia, from October 25 to 27, 2025, which he made as Guest of the Chair in conjunction with the 47th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur. Speaking at a joint press conference with Lula at the Seri Perdana Complex in Putrajaya on October 25, 2025, Anwar described the relationship as “an engagement between two friends who share the same convictions”, The Star reported.
During that visit, the two leaders discussed cooperation in trade and investment, semiconductors, science and technology, renewable energy, the halal industry, agriculture, health and education. Memorandums of understanding were exchanged on semiconductors, science, technology and innovation, and think-tank collaboration, along with an exchange of notes on diplomatic training and a letter of intent on agricultural research cooperation. The Malaysian Reserve reported that it was the first visit by a Brazilian president to Malaysia in three decades, and Lula also became the first Brazilian head of state to attend an ASEAN summit.
A joint statement issued at the time said both sides shared an aspiration to elevate bilateral relations to a strategic partnership in the near future, and noted that diplomatic relations between Malaysia and Brazil were established in 1959. The leaders also discussed cooperation through the United Nations, BRICS and ASEAN, as well as Brazil’s COP30 presidency and the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty.
Anwar has repeatedly championed a stronger role for developing nations in global affairs, a theme he echoed in Monday’s message. Brazil is a founding member of the BRICS grouping, while Malaysia joined as a BRICS partner country in January 2025.
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