Bolsonaro or Lula, Brazil to vote for the ballot: what the polls say

The Presidents will be tired now. They rode motorbikes far and wide across Brazil, leading bands of cheering riders (Bolsonaro). They danced the samba on open cars by leading democracy walks in major cities (Lula). They talked about programs (a little) and insulted each other (a lot). Friday night they found themselves in the ring of
Tv Globe
for the second face to face, in a scenography that forced them to move back and forth, between one attack and another, like old boxers who still want to throw punches at the opponent. Yesterday the last «Caminata» for the center-left candidate in San Paolo, the country’s first major electoral district, and the last «Motociata» for the far-right candidate in Minas Gerais, second constituency.

The first round, the last poll

It’s over. The toughest and most polarized electoral campaign in the history of Brazil ended with a sentence from Bolsonaro that gives hope for the absence of aftermath: “Whoever gets the most votes wins.” The specter of a violent resurgence of the “Bolsonarists”, of a long series of legal appeals or worse of a force action, in the event of its defeat, is (perhaps) removed.

Today the Brazilians are called to choose, in the ballot, the future president between two challengers who know the job well. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva77 years old, who has already lived in the Planalto palace, in Brasilia, from 2003 to 2010, e
Jair Messias Bolsonaro
the current 67-year-old tenant. In the first round, the leader of the Workers’ Party, a candidate from a broad center-left front, was in the lead with 48.43% against Bolsonaro’s 43.2%. Just six million secondment votes, out of 156 million voters. The latest poll, published yesterday by MDA, gives Lula winning with 51.1% of valid votes at 48.9%. But uncertainty remains sovereign.

Debate on TV, notes written on the hand

It is unlikely that the debate on TV has shifted votes or convinced the undecided. Bolsonaro with notes written on the palm of his hand like a high school student facing the Greek exam; Lula with her back to him like an offended child, “I don’t want to be near you.” And then the usual insults – “liar”, “bandit” – with even the “blue pill”: the former trade unionist objected to the rival buying 35,000 Viagra tablets for the army. The Trump of the Tropics defended himself by saying that “it is used for the treatment of the prostate” and replying “do you use it by chance too?”. This went on for two hours, with mutual accusations of corruption, abortion and much more.

The unknowns of the economy

Whoever wins will face an uncertain economic future. Brazil, a major exporter, has to deal with an uncertain global context. The International Monetary Fund estimates that GDP growth in 2023 will fall to 1.1% compared to 1.7% in 2022. Both candidates have promised to continue supporting the poorest families, but economic policies would be very different . Lula it wants to expand public spending on education, health and infrastructure, probably with an increase in taxation on the wealthiest classes. Bolsonaro intends to continue with the liberal line and the privatization plan.

The first round, the last poll

For Senator Simone Tebet, champion of the “third way” and finished third in the first presidential round, vote Lula it is a choice of democracy: «I dream of an inclusive, generous Brazil, without hunger and misery, with quality education and health, with sustainable development. A Brazil with structural reforms, which respects free enterprise, agribusiness and the environment, “he said in an interview with

Courier. “Today we have a president who threatens democracy, who does not respect the Constitution, who does not promote harmony between the powers: legislative, executive and judicial. Bolsonaro it has already weakened our democracy ”. On TV, Tebet has come to call him a “coward”. Confirmation? “Yes, Bolsonaro is a coward in many ways, especially in the way he attacks and threatens women, journalists, senators, deputies. This type of attitude on the part of anyone cannot be observed in silence, even more so than the President of the Republic ».