Brazil’s presidential vote will go to second round after an agreement to form the National Convention.
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Brazil’s presidential election will go to second round on Sunday after the most unlikely election in Latin America, with the incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on track to win a fourth term in office as his nearest challenger is eliminated.
Thousands of people jammed Brazil’s streets outside Rio de Janeiro’s central Maracanã stadium on Thursday for the first time since the first round held two years ago, when Lula, a left-leaning former union leader, was beaten by his former mentor and political nemesis, former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Lula has kept faith with his message of change and the leftist candidate, Ciro Gomes, has been a political lightning rod since arriving on the presidential stage in September.
Yet even the most ardent leftists have a soft spot for the charismatic Lula who is seen as a breath of fresh air in a country where a few decades ago a worker could be sentenced to death for being the first to wear a tie on the job.
“He’s the only candidate that has spoken to what is wrong with Brazil,” said Maria Luisa Lima in Rio de Janeiro where thousands of people dressed in white from waist to feet to symbolize the cleanliness of their lives.
Lula’s poll numbers have rebounded since February when economic troubles caused by a sharp drop in commodity prices knocked Brazil’s economy flat. Since then, the leftist president’s approval rating had fallen from 52 percent to 42 percent in recent opinion polls, but his popularity seems to have stabilised.
Election authorities hope Sunday’s vote will be a repeat of the first round held last year when Lula defeated the incumbent, Dilma Rousseff, in a run-off.
Lula, who served as a union leader before returning to politics, was able to rally voters tired of a series of government economic missteps, while Rousseff had the advantage of a massive election effort by her Workers’ Party to boost turnout.
But if Sunday’s election is close, then the political debate over the past year is likely to be revived.
The main opposition leader, Alvaro Dias, won a second round of voting in June but fell short of victory. He finished in third place with 5 percent, or about 60,000 votes.
“I think we will