Dr Tom Long, Assistant Professor in New Rising World Powers in the Department of Politics and International Studies, comments on Brazil's Presidential elections:

"Brazil heads to the polls on Sunday for a momentous election.

"The country has been mired in polarized political stagnation since the impeachment of former President Dilma Rousseff. The economy has started to recover gradually, but only after painful recession. Most Brazilians feel they, and their country, are worse off than at the time of the last election four years ago.

"In Brazil's electoral system, the top two candidates will advance to a second round, unless one unexpectedly gains 50 percent of the vote. Into that complicated picture stepped a host of candidates, most notably right-wing firebrand Jair Bolsonaro, who leads to polls in the first round. In the contest for second place, Fernando Haddad has consolidated a lead over the last two weeks. Haddad is the handpicked successor of imprisoned former President Lula, himself barred from running.

"After a topsy-turvy race that included a candidate campaigning from a hospital bed (Bolsonaro, after a stabbing) and from a jail cell (Lula, while appealing a corruption conviction), surprises are still possible. What seems certain is the second round is likely to be highly polarized, with Sunday's winners representing markedly different visions of Brazil's future."

5 October 2018

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