Leftist ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has increased his lead over far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro. — AFP file pic
SAO PAULO, Dec 17 — Leftist ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has increased his lead over far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro 10 months out from Brazil’s elections and could win in the first round, a poll found Thursday.
Lula, who led Brazil from 2003 to 2010, has 48 per cent of the vote to 22 per cent for Bolsonaro, found leading pollster Datafolha.
Despite a push from the political center for a “third-way” candidate, no others reached double digits in the poll.
Ex-justice minister Sergio Moro has 9 per cent of the vote, former Ceara state governor Ciro Gomes 7 per cent and current Sao Paulo state Governor Joao Doria 4 per cent, it found.
Eight per cent of respondents said they would cast blank ballots or abstain, while 2 per cent were undecided, Datafolha said.
That means if the elections were held today, Lula would have enough votes to win in the first round. Brazilian electoral law requires a candidate to win more than half of all valid votes, subtracting blank and spoiled ballots.
Lula, 76, a charismatic former steelworker, was hugely popular as president. But his image was badly tarnished when he was jailed on corruption charges in 2018.
Lula, who calls the case against him a conspiracy, was released in 2019. The Supreme Court annulled his convictions this year, clearing the way for him to run again.
He immediately emerged as the top challenger to former army captain Bolsonaro, 66. The incumbent’s popularity has plunged amid a recession and his government’s missteps on Covid-19, which has claimed more than 615,000 lives in Brazil, second only to the United States.
Datafolha’s previous poll, in September, found Lula with 44 per cent of the vote to 26 per cent for Bolsonaro.
Neither has officially declared a candidacy.
The new poll was carried out from December 13 to 16 with 3,666 respondents and a margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points. — AFP