[ Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has widened
his lead over incumbent Jair Bolsonaro, less than a week before one of
the most divisive presidential elections in Brazil’s history.]
[[link removed]]

LULA’S LEAD OVER BOLSONARO WIDENS DAYS BEFORE BRAZIL ELECTION  
[[link removed]]


 

Al Jazeera
September 28, 2022
Al Jazeera
[[link removed]]


*
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]

_ Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has widened
his lead over incumbent Jair Bolsonaro, less than a week before one of
the most divisive presidential elections in Brazil’s history. _

Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks during a
rally in Sao Paulo, September 24 , Amanda Perobelli/Reuters // Al
Jazeera

 

Brazil remains tense in advance of October 2 vote, as polls show
former left-wing leader ahead of incumbent Jair Bolsonaro.

A Genial/Quaest poll released on Wednesday showed Lula
[[link removed]],
who served as president from 2003 to 2010, with a 13-percentage-point
lead over his far-right rival. 

The survey put support for Lula at 46 percent in the first round,
compared with 33 percent for Bolsonaro – up from 44 percent for Lula
and 34 percent for Bolsonaro a week earlier.

In a potential October 30 runoff, Lula’s lead rose to a 14-point
advantage, from 10 points a week ago, the poll found.

Brazil remains tense
[[link removed]] in
advance of the upcoming vote, as experts have raised concerns over
election-related violence should Bolsonaro refuse to accept defeat.

The former army captain in recent months has repeatedly taken aim at
leading Supreme Court justices and alleged – without providing any
evidence – that Brazil’s electronic voting system
[[link removed]] is
vulnerable to widespread fraud.

Legal experts have rejected that allegation
[[link removed]],
while the president’s critics have accused him of sowing doubt in
the run-up to the election in order to dispute the results, as was
done by former US President Donald Trump
[[link removed]],
whom Bolsonaro has emulated.

Guilherme Casaroes, a political scientist and professor at Fundacao
Getulo Vargas in Sao Paulo, said Bolsonaro has continued to cast doubt
on the voting system, as well as recent polling before Sunday’s
contest.

“He’s made this clear, several times, that he doesn’t trust the
electronic voting machines of Brazil. He keeps casting suspicion over
the electoral court. He totally disregards the polls and the polling
numbers. So tough times ahead, I’d say,” Casaroes told Al Jazeera.

“Bolsonaro is not willing to accept [the results] and most of his
supporters have already stated that they are not going to accept the
election results if Lula wins.”

The Genial/Quaest poll on Wednesday found that negative views of
Bolsonaro’s government edged up to 42 percent from 39 percent last
week, while the percentage of those who see the government in a
positive light remained flat at 31 percent.

The incumbent has faced criticism for his handling of the COVID-19
pandemic, as well as the destruction of the Amazon rainforest
and escalating violence
[[link removed]] against
Indigenous people in Brazil.

Meanwhile, fears over election-related violence
[[link removed]] persist
after Brazilian police said earlier this week that a 39-year-old Lula
supporter was stabbed to death in a bar after reportedly telling
another patron about his voting intentions.

The newspaper O Povo reported that witnesses told police a man entered
a bar in the city of Cascavel on Saturday and asked who was voting for
Lula. A man said, “I will”, and then was stabbed. He died in
hospital the same day.

Human Rights Watch said it regrets “one more assassination with an
apparent political motivation” during the Brazilian electoral
campaign. “Candidates should vehemently condemn any act of violence
and promote peaceful elections,” the group said on Twitter.

Brazilian media reported that police in the state of Santa Catarina, a
Bolsonaro stronghold, are investigating a second killing that could be
linked to politics. On Saturday, a 34-year-old man died after being
stabbed in Rio do Sul, a city of 72,000 residents.

Bolsonaro supporters have said on social media channels that Hildor
Henker was killed in a bar fight after he voiced his support for the
far-right leader.

Earlier in the campaign, a Bolsonaro backer killed a local official
of Lula’s Workers’ Party
[[link removed]] in
the city of Foz de Iguacu and there have been less serious clashes
between backers of both candidates.

Casaroes at Fundacao Getulo Vargas said on Wednesday that if opinion
polls hold true and Lula wins the presidency, he will have “a big
challenge, which is to heal the wounds of the country”.

“Brazil is polarised and radicalised like never before, and because
of that, if Lula tries to lean way too much to the left, that’s
going to cause an even greater polarisation in the country – and
that’s definitely not what Lula wants.”

* Brazil
[[link removed]]
* Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva
[[link removed]]
* Lula da Silva
[[link removed]]
* Lula
[[link removed]]
* Jair Bolsonaro
[[link removed]]
* Bolsonaro
[[link removed]]
* Fascism
[[link removed]]
* Democratic Elections
[[link removed]]
* Donald Trump
[[link removed]]

*
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]

 

 

 

INTERPRET THE WORLD AND CHANGE IT

 

 

Submit via web
[[link removed]]

Submit via email
Frequently asked questions
[[link removed]]

Manage subscription
[[link removed]]

Visit xxxxxx.org
[[link removed]]

Twitter [[link removed]]

Facebook [[link removed]]

 




[link removed]

To unsubscribe, click the following link:
[link removed]