It’s unclear! Brazilians said as the country went to vote on Sunday in a contentious election marred by violence and fear. Incumbent president Jair Bolsonaro– often called the ‘Trump of the Tropics’- received almost 44 per cent of votes outperforming expectations while former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva garnered a little over 47 per cent votes. As both the candidates could not reach the 50% vote-mark in the first round, Bolsonaro and Lula are set to face each other in a runoff election on October 30.
Far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro whose term in office has been marked by incendiary speeches, decline of democratic institutions of the country and an economic slowdown owing to the Covid pandemic was unable to gain an overall majority of votes despite his high-octane campaign- a reflection of his diminishing popularity in the country.
A former union leader Lula da Silva- once imprisoned amid a corruption scandal- was seen to be in the lead in the pre-election polls but could not reach the majority mark displaying the division in the country. Lula da Silva had been the president of Brazil from 2003 to 2010.
The elections come at a time when Brazil has been severely impacted by the Covid pandemic making economic management one of the major issues in the polls. The country is also in the midst of increasing inflation owing to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Ahead of the polling, Jair Bolsonaro questioned not only the reliability of opinion polls, but also of the country’s voting machines, in what is being seen as a very former US president Donald Trump-like behaviour.
After voting on Sunday, Jair Bolsonaro emphasized that “clean elections must be respected” but did not answer any questions related to accepting the results of the elections, Associated Press reported.
