Brazil all set for a contentious presidential poll run-off

VOTERS LEFT WITH A STARK CHOICE BETWEEN FAR-RIGHT BOLSONARO AND LEFTIST HADDAD

Adeeply polarised Brazil stood at a political crossroads yesterday as the bruising first round of the presidential election left voters with a stark choice in the run-off between far-right firebrand Jair Bolsonaro and leftist Fernando Haddad.

Bolsonaro, an ultraconservative former paratrooper, easily beat a dozen other candidates on Sunday — but not by enough to avoid an October 28 showdown with Haddad, the former mayor of Sao Paulo.

Bolsonaro won 46 per cent of the vote to Haddad’s 29 per cent, according to official results.

That tracked closely with pollster’s predictions, but Bolsonaro charged that “polling problems” had cheated him of outright victory in the first round, which required him to pass the 50 per cent threshold.

Some of his supporters protested outside the national electoral tribunal in the capital Brasilia, chanting “Fraud!”

That anger reflected the uncertain outlook for the second round. Surveys suggest Bolsonaro will have the edge, but that Haddad will draw nearly even with him after picking up sub- stantial support from the defeated candidates. Haddad, addressing his own supporters, called the looming run-off “a golden opportunity,” and challenged Bolsonaro to a debate.

He replaced popular former ugly),’ and dismissing Brazil’s large poor black population have sparked visceral opposition to his candidacy.

Fernando Haddad

Haddad, was tapped by the Workers Party to replace its preferred candidate Lula, who is serving a 12-year prison term for graft and disqualified from making a comeback. Channelling Lula’s popularity, the 55-year-old president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in the race after Lula, imprisoned for corruption, was disqualified.

Despite his complaints, Bolsonaro did not formally contest Sunday’s result, saying his voters “remain mobilised” for the Haddad climbed up the survey rankings. But the former mayor of Sao Paulo has struggled to set himself apart from the iconic Lula. Worse, he has to carry the baggage of his party’s years in power that are blamed for Brazil’s economic mess, and much of the corruption.

It hasn’t helped that Haddad faced corruption accusations linked to his campaign during municipal elections in 2012. second round. But he faces resistance going forward from a big part of Brazil’s electorate put off by his record of denigrating comments against women, gays and the poor.