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Last-ditch bid to woo undecided ahead of Brazil presidential poll

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Candidates vying to be Brazil's next president are making last-ditch attempts to woo undecided voters ahead of a first-round election Sunday which a polarizing far-right politician, Jair Bolsonaro, is favored to win.

Even though campaigning in public ended on Thursday, many of the 13 candidates were continuing to make their case via social networks in Latin America's largest democracy.

Bolsonaro is particularly adept at using the internet to get his message across. Since being stabbed by a lone knifeman while campaigning a month ago he has been convalescing in hospital and at home, but remained very active on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

The 63-year-old ultraconservative, an ex-paratrooper espousing tough law-and-order measures, surged in the polls in recent days. He has 35 percent of voter support according to the Datafolha firm.

That puts him well ahead of his nearest rival, Fernando Haddad, who became the leftist Workers Party replacement candidate after its iconic figure, former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, was declared ineligible because he is in prison for corruption.

Haddad is credited with 22 percent support.

Supporters of Brazil's far-right presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro take part in a campaign ral...
Supporters of Brazil's far-right presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro take part in a campaign rally in Brasilia, on the eve of the ballot which he is favored to win
EVARISTO SA, AFP

If those scores are borne out in Sunday's general election, Bolsonaro and Haddad will go on to a run-off ballot on October 28. That round is seen as too close to reliably call as Haddad would likely be boosted by leftists and some centrist voters swinging behind him.

But analysts say Bolsonaro's rise has been so swift there is an outside possibility he could even carry off the presidency on Sunday without going to a second round, by winning more than 50 percent of all valid votes.

A political analysis consultancy, Eurasia Group, said it viewed a first-round outright victory as "unlikely," estimated at 20 percent chance.

- Strongly for and against -

Bolsonaro is seen as a "clean" candidate, unmarred by corruption scandals that have sullied so many others despite his spending the past 27 years in congress, most recently with the tiny far-right Social Liberal Party. Though a Catholic, he has close ties to evangelical groups that form a powerful political lobby.

Yet he is reviled by around 40 percent of voters, according to surveys, with many objecting to his frequent comments degrading women, making light of rape, expressing hostility to homosexuals, and criticizing the poor. His nostalgia for Brazil's 1964-1985 military dictatorship has also chilled voters.

Protests have sprung up against Bolsonaro, with another called for later Saturday in Brazil's biggest city of Sao Paulo.

But he has solid support from better-educated Brazilians fed up with crime and corruption, and by business leaders and investors swayed by his promises to reduce Brazil spiralling debt through privatizations in the world's eight-biggest economy.

"Bolsonaro has better scores from voters with high revenues and good levels of education than from the poor. He also has wooed more men than women," noted a political analyst, Jairo Nicolau.

Brazil's presidential election
Brazil's presidential election
, AFP

Around 50 percent of Brazilian women say they would never vote for Bolsonaro, according to surveys.

- Yearning for prosperity -

Much of Brazil did very well economically under the 2003-2010 rule of former president Lula, and yearns for that heyday after suffering through a subsequent 2014-2016 recession that was Brazil's worst ever.

But many don't trust the Workers Party to bring back the good times. The sharp decline, which has resulted in 12 percent unemployment, happened under Lula's chosen successor Dilma Rousseff, who was impeached and booted from office in 2016 for fiddling public finances.

A supporter of Brazil's far-right presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro takes a snapshot with a ca...
A supporter of Brazil's far-right presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro takes a snapshot with a campaign sign in Brasilia
EVARISTO SA, AFP

Haddad, a former mayor of Sao Paulo and education minister under Lula, climbed into second place thanks to Lula's lingering popularity. His sells himself as "Lula's candidate" and promises to open the public purse strings to recover prosperity.

On Saturday, Haddad was in Brazil's poor northeast region in an effort to rustle up more votes.

"We are arriving at the big day. Don't decide your vote by rumors, lies on WhatsApp. Decide on the basis of the proposals, on who is by the side of Brazilian workers," he tweeted.

Lula himself tried Friday to give Haddad a fillip by sending a letter from jail in which he said: "October 6 is my official birthday. I hope my gift on October 7 is a vote by the Brazilian people for Haddad as president."

Brazilian presidential candidate Fernando Haddad (R)  who sells himself as
Brazilian presidential candidate Fernando Haddad (R), who sells himself as "Lula's candidate," rallied with his running mate Manuela d'Avila (2-R), the Governor of Minas Gerais Fernando Pimentel (2-L) and former president Dilma Rousseff (L)
DOUGLAS MAGNO, AFP

Lula really turns 73 on October 27, but his birth was registered a year after he was born in 1945 with October 6 given as his birthdate.

Sunday's election, as well as deciding among the presidential candidates, is to choose new federal and state legislatures.

Polling stations will open at 8:00 am (1100 GMT) and close at 5:00 pm (2000 GMT). Voting is compulsory and entered electronically, with results expected within a couple of hours of the closing time.

Candidates vying to be Brazil’s next president are making last-ditch attempts to woo undecided voters ahead of a first-round election Sunday which a polarizing far-right politician, Jair Bolsonaro, is favored to win.

Even though campaigning in public ended on Thursday, many of the 13 candidates were continuing to make their case via social networks in Latin America’s largest democracy.

Bolsonaro is particularly adept at using the internet to get his message across. Since being stabbed by a lone knifeman while campaigning a month ago he has been convalescing in hospital and at home, but remained very active on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

The 63-year-old ultraconservative, an ex-paratrooper espousing tough law-and-order measures, surged in the polls in recent days. He has 35 percent of voter support according to the Datafolha firm.

That puts him well ahead of his nearest rival, Fernando Haddad, who became the leftist Workers Party replacement candidate after its iconic figure, former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, was declared ineligible because he is in prison for corruption.

Haddad is credited with 22 percent support.

Supporters of Brazil's far-right presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro take part in a campaign ral...

Supporters of Brazil’s far-right presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro take part in a campaign rally in Brasilia, on the eve of the ballot which he is favored to win
EVARISTO SA, AFP

If those scores are borne out in Sunday’s general election, Bolsonaro and Haddad will go on to a run-off ballot on October 28. That round is seen as too close to reliably call as Haddad would likely be boosted by leftists and some centrist voters swinging behind him.

But analysts say Bolsonaro’s rise has been so swift there is an outside possibility he could even carry off the presidency on Sunday without going to a second round, by winning more than 50 percent of all valid votes.

A political analysis consultancy, Eurasia Group, said it viewed a first-round outright victory as “unlikely,” estimated at 20 percent chance.

– Strongly for and against –

Bolsonaro is seen as a “clean” candidate, unmarred by corruption scandals that have sullied so many others despite his spending the past 27 years in congress, most recently with the tiny far-right Social Liberal Party. Though a Catholic, he has close ties to evangelical groups that form a powerful political lobby.

Yet he is reviled by around 40 percent of voters, according to surveys, with many objecting to his frequent comments degrading women, making light of rape, expressing hostility to homosexuals, and criticizing the poor. His nostalgia for Brazil’s 1964-1985 military dictatorship has also chilled voters.

Protests have sprung up against Bolsonaro, with another called for later Saturday in Brazil’s biggest city of Sao Paulo.

But he has solid support from better-educated Brazilians fed up with crime and corruption, and by business leaders and investors swayed by his promises to reduce Brazil spiralling debt through privatizations in the world’s eight-biggest economy.

“Bolsonaro has better scores from voters with high revenues and good levels of education than from the poor. He also has wooed more men than women,” noted a political analyst, Jairo Nicolau.

Brazil's presidential election

Brazil's presidential election
, AFP

Around 50 percent of Brazilian women say they would never vote for Bolsonaro, according to surveys.

– Yearning for prosperity –

Much of Brazil did very well economically under the 2003-2010 rule of former president Lula, and yearns for that heyday after suffering through a subsequent 2014-2016 recession that was Brazil’s worst ever.

But many don’t trust the Workers Party to bring back the good times. The sharp decline, which has resulted in 12 percent unemployment, happened under Lula’s chosen successor Dilma Rousseff, who was impeached and booted from office in 2016 for fiddling public finances.

A supporter of Brazil's far-right presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro takes a snapshot with a ca...

A supporter of Brazil’s far-right presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro takes a snapshot with a campaign sign in Brasilia
EVARISTO SA, AFP

Haddad, a former mayor of Sao Paulo and education minister under Lula, climbed into second place thanks to Lula’s lingering popularity. His sells himself as “Lula’s candidate” and promises to open the public purse strings to recover prosperity.

On Saturday, Haddad was in Brazil’s poor northeast region in an effort to rustle up more votes.

“We are arriving at the big day. Don’t decide your vote by rumors, lies on WhatsApp. Decide on the basis of the proposals, on who is by the side of Brazilian workers,” he tweeted.

Lula himself tried Friday to give Haddad a fillip by sending a letter from jail in which he said: “October 6 is my official birthday. I hope my gift on October 7 is a vote by the Brazilian people for Haddad as president.”

Brazilian presidential candidate Fernando Haddad (R)  who sells himself as

Brazilian presidential candidate Fernando Haddad (R), who sells himself as “Lula's candidate,” rallied with his running mate Manuela d'Avila (2-R), the Governor of Minas Gerais Fernando Pimentel (2-L) and former president Dilma Rousseff (L)
DOUGLAS MAGNO, AFP

Lula really turns 73 on October 27, but his birth was registered a year after he was born in 1945 with October 6 given as his birthdate.

Sunday’s election, as well as deciding among the presidential candidates, is to choose new federal and state legislatures.

Polling stations will open at 8:00 am (1100 GMT) and close at 5:00 pm (2000 GMT). Voting is compulsory and entered electronically, with results expected within a couple of hours of the closing time.

AFP
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