Dilma Rousseff has been re-elected president of Brazil, winning by a narrow margin.<br /><br />With 51.6 percent of the vote, she now faces an uphill battle of reinvigorating a stagnant economy, improving public services and pushing reforms through a divided congress.<br /><br />Rousseff recognised the challenge saying, “A re-election vote is a vote of hope, especially for improving the actions of those in power. I know that is what the people say when they re-elect a leader.”<br /><br />The left-leaning president did well in poorer parts of the country where her welfare policies have lifted millions of Brazilians out of poverty, but left a large whole in the budget.<br /><br />One man who was celebrating Rousseff’s win said, “economic crises do not depend only on international banking. Maybe the economy is not growing that much but Brazilians have jobs, and a better quality of life.”<br /><br />Business-friendly opposition candidate Aecio Neves gave Rousseff a run for her money in a tight run race, winning 48 percent of the vote. He conceded defeat saying, “I congratulated the re-elected president (Dilma Rousseff) by phone and I wished her success leading the country in her next government.” <br /><br />Our correspondent at Rousseff’s party headquarters in Brasilia reports that, “the town has been painted red (the colour of Rousseff’s Worker’s party). Rousseff gets a second term, and her Worker’s Party extends its rule to a fourth consecutive term in power.”
