Right-winger gains election ground

RIGHT-WING frontrunner Jair Bolsonaro’s support has grown ahead of Brazil’s presidential election in October, while second-place environmentalist Marina Silva edged up in a new Datafolha poll released yesterday.

Excluding jailed former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Bolsonaro continued to lead with 22% of voter intentions, up from 19% in the previous Datafolha poll in June.

Silva’s support edged up to 16% from 15% in June, failing to narrow the gap with Bolsonaro.

Business favourite Geraldo Alckmin remained stuck in single digits with 9%, up from 7% in June.

Lula was registered as a presidential candidate by his Workers Party last week but will probably be barred from running by the electoral court due to his corruption conviction that led to a 12-year jail sentence.

Bolsonaro, a former army captain who favours easing gun control to fight crime, has stirred controversy with comments denigrating women, gays, blacks and indigenous people. Despite this, Bolsonaro has led the field from the outset when Lula is excluded, by tapping into voter anger over political corruption.

Support for Lula’s running mate, Fernando Haddad, the former São Paulo mayor who is expected to head the ticket in Lula’s stead, has risen to 4% since June, when he polled just 1%.

Haddad’s chances of making the secondround runoff between the two candidates who get the most votes will hinge on his ability to tap into the massive support enjoyed by Lula. The former president was convicted of taking bribes and a half dozen other corruption accusations are still under investigation.

When Lula is included in the poll, his support surged to 39% from 30% in the previous Datafolha survey. If Lula’s name is not on the ballot, the number of voters who say they will intentionally invalidate their ballot, not vote for anyone or are undecided falls to 28% from 33% in June. That makes the October 7 election the most open and uncertain in decades.

Centre-left candidate Ciro Gomes, a former governor of Ceará state in Brazil’s poorer north-east, has held steady at 10%. Gomes has failed to draw the support of Lula voters he would need to become the new standard bearer of Brazil’s left.

Datafolha surveyed 8 433 voters across Brazil on Monday and Tuesday. The poll has a margin of error of 2 percentage points.

LULA WAS REGISTERED AS A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE BY HIS WORKERS PARTY LAST WEEK