Brazilians reject populism in blow for Bolsonaro
PRESIDENT Jair Bolsonaro’s hopes of serving a second term in office received a setback at the weekend after Brazilians rejected populist candidates in municipal elections and instead voted for experienced politicians from mainstream parties.
The far-right leader who came to power on a wave of anti-establishment sentiment in 2019 saw his preferred candidates knocked out of the running in the country’s largest city, Sao Paulo, and other state capitals.
The Social Liberal Party he joined for his presidential campaign and later fell out with was nowhere to be seen in major city races on Sunday, despite having surged two years ago to become the second largest in Congress.
In a country hit by the world’s second deadliest coronavirus outbreak and deep economic crisis, voters looked to traditional parties, such as the Democrats and the Brazilian Social Democratic Party, which is leading the race for its candidate to become mayor of Sao Paulo, the nation’s largest city.
In Rio de Janeiro, Democrat Eduardo Paes led the election and will face incumbent mayor Marcelo Crivella, an evangelical bishop, in a run-off in two weeks.
In Belo Horizonte, the sixth largest city, voters re-elected Alexandre Kalil, who took tough quarantine and social distancing steps that were criticised by Mr Bolsonaro, who has repeatedly downplayed the severity of Covid-19.
“The pandemic has put the brakes on the trend towards anti-politics and rejec
‘The pandemic has put the brakes on the trend towards the rejection of traditional parties for being corrupt’
tion of traditional parties for being corrupt,” said Creomar de Souza, head of Brasilia-based consultancy Dharma Political Risk and Strategy. “Voters understood that the politicians elected with Bolsonaro in 2018 were flawed and they want to see public services improve,” he added.
Mr Bolsonaro was elected during the Operation Car Wash Scandal that saw company executives and politicians jailed for corruption, including Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the former president.