Dilma's Lead Widens as Battle for
Second Spot Heats Up
Two
new polls show Brazil’s incumbent president in the
lead with 40 percent of support, whilst the battle
to be the second candidate in any run off is heating
up.
Brazil’s incumbent president Dilma Rousseff has
gained further support, while the main opposition
candidates are in a near dead heat for second place,
according to the latest polls.
A
Datafolha survey has Rousseff on 40 percent, while
her once nearest rival Marina Silva continues to
lose support and is now only three percentage points
ahead of Aecio Neves.
Neves, the most pro-market candidate, increased his
support by one percentage point to 21 percent and
could now make the runoff.
Up
to 143 million Brazilians are expected to go to the
polls on Sunday. A second-round vote is required by
law if, as expected, no candidate wins a clear
majority of votes.
Rousseff would win re-election in the October 26
runoff by 7 percentage points according to Datafolha,
as well as a second poll conducted by the Ibope
research firm.
Rousseff pledges to broaden social programs that
have lifted millions of Brazilians out of poverty
and reduced inequality in Latin America's largest
nation, while Silva promises to revive Brazil's
stagnant economy by implementing market policies.
Rousseff increased her lead in the first round to 16
percentage points in both polls, with 40 percent of
voter support to 24 percent for Silva.
Silva has continued to slip under criticism from
Rousseff's campaign that describe her pro-market
policies as a threat to Brazil's poor.
The
Datafolha poll surveyed 12,022 respondents
nationwide between Oct. 1 and Oct. 2 and the Ibope
surveyed 3,010 respondents nationwide between Sept.
27 and Oct. 2. Both polls have a margin of error of
plus or minus 2 percentage points.
(Taken from TeleSur)
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