RIO DE JANEIRO, January 1. /TASS/. Luis Inacio Lula da Silva has been was sworn in as Brazil’s president for a term lasting from January 1, 2023 to January 4, 2027. The ceremony was broadcast on state television.

"In 1989, at an election event in the state of Piaui, I was presented with a gift pen and asked to use it to sign the presidential oath of office, should I win the election. Then I failed," Lula da Silva said at a ceremony in the building of the National Congress (bicameral parliament). He recalled that he intended to sign the oath with this pen back in 2003, but left it at home. In 2007, he forgot to take the gift pen to the ceremony too.

"This time the pen is with me. May it serve as a token of respect for the people of the state of Piaui," Lula da Silva said.