By Nitya Chakraborty
Far Right and Trump loyalist Flavio Bolsonaro secured 47 per cent of the votes polled on October 4 first round beating the Left Wing President Lula Da Silva who got 45.1 per cent of the votes. Since no contesting candidate crossed the requirement of 50 per cent of the votes, the run off will be taking place on October 25 to decide the next President just by a simple majority.
The October 4 polling results were a setback to the Left coalition candidate President Lula as most of the opinion polls gave Lula a slight edge against Bolsonaro till the fag end of the elections, but the results show that the far right candidate improved his position in the first round polling and he has placed himself in an advantageous position to win the October 25 run off.
The October 4 results show that the other right wing candidates Ronaldo Cajado got 2.1 per cent and Renan Santos got 2.2 per cent. So there is a right wing vote of 4.3 per cent as per first round polling. These two are anti-left and natural allies of Bolsonaro. If they give full support to Bolsonaro against Lula, the 45 year old son of the former President Jair Bolsonaro can beat Lula easily. So the campaign in the next three weeks before October 25 has become crucial
President Lula was certainly disappointed at the results. Speaking in Sāo Paulo, Lula put a brave face on a difficult night for the left. “We have just had a lesson in Brazilian democracy,” he said. “The result is often unexpected. We can never get everything we wanted. I confess to you that I was convinced I was going to win the election in the first round … But we have a second round.”
Lula said Bolsonaro’s “dark past” would become clearer to voters in the lead-up to that vote. “From tomorrow we will launch a new campaign: with only two candidates we will be able to show the difference between our proposals for Brazil.” Lula also said that Latin America’s largest democracy faces a stark choice- in one side there is a candidate who has been working for the poor and the vulnerable sections of Brazilian population for years and on the other side, there is a candidate who m has links with the underworld and who collaborates with foreign power to sell the interests of Brazil.
However, the activists of the Left coalition are worried that there is some shift from the ruling party’s workers base to far right, otherwise this rise in Bolsonaro’s votes could not have taken place. They also point out that Brazil’s neo middle class people have sided with Bolsonaro as they feel that the Lula government only cares for the poor and not for the middle class.
The Lula campaigners are now focusing on bringing back these deserters from the Bolsonaro camp in the next three weeks. They are also emphasizing on the anti-national character of Bolsonaro as he is supporting every move of Trump which goes against the interests of Brazil. The entire Latin American Left are supporting the Brazilian Left coalition to intensify their campaign for the run off so that Lula can finally win.
Far right presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro has reasons to be happy. As per the initial results, out of the 54 Senate seats, far right has got 34 and in many governor’s posts including crucial Sao Paulo, Bolsonaro candidates have won. Bolsonaro’s immediate family members including his two brothers have been elected. So if Bolsonaro wins, as new President, he can move to free his father who is in prison serving a 27 year sentence for organizing a coup against the elected government of Lula after last elections.
President Trump is taking special interest in the Brazilian elections. Many reports have appeared in international media about open interference by the U.S. administration in the Brazilian elections by extending assistance to Bolsonaro. The US companies are hoping to come back to Brazil once Bolsonaro wins. The trends so far indicate the far right win in Brazil on October 25. It will depend on the capacity of the Left coalition campaigners how far they are able to bring to their fold new voters for supporting Lula. For Latin American Left, October 25 results are crucial for the sustenance of their movement in the region. (IPA Service)
