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Brazil's re-elected leader Dilma Rousseff faced a house divided after a bitterly fought election that culminated in the narrowest presidential win since the nation's return to democracy three decades ago.
In a victory speech, Rousseff yesterday said her first task will be to seek reconciliation and to build bridges to those who didn't vote for her.
"This president is willing to dialogue and that's the first promise of my second term, to have a dialogue," she said before cheering supporters in Brasilia.
But it's not clear how far Rousseff is willing to reach out to rivals, nor how receptive a highly fragmented Congress, which after this month's general election is split between 28 parties, will be to her overtures.
Brazil's most rancorous presidential campaign in decades ended Sunday with the main opposition party's candidate Aecio Neves faring far better than anyone forecast less than a month ago.
The division could further stifle efforts at the political reforms millions of Brazilians demanded during street protests last year seeking increased government efficiency and less corruption.
Rousseff has urged Congress to call a national referendum on such reforms, but lawmakers balked at that last year when the president had more legislative support, and there is little reason to believe they'll agree to it now.
The divide also will likely hamper delayed economic reforms that many believe are necessary for longer-term growth, and even frustrate agreement on shorter-term measures required to jumpstart a stalled economy.
"We've never seen an election that's been this divisive," said Paulo Sotero, director of the Brazil Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington. "The things said during the campaign, by both sides, will make it very difficult for the nation to come together quickly."
Rousseff has steep challenges on both the economic and political fronts.
Brazil's economy fell into technical recession in August. It faces the internal pressure of lessening consumer demand and rising inflation, as well as the external dilemma of China's growth slowing faster than expected. Brazil's economic expansion in the past decade was built on the spending power of a newly minted middle class and the voracious Chinese appetite for commodities like iron ore and soy.
