Brazilian right-wing candidate gains voters despite sexist remarks

RIO DE JANEIRO / BRASILIA (Reuters) – Luzia Amaral has been watching Brazilian presidential candidates for a long time and has finally chosen far-right Jair Bolsonaro as the only option to prevent the return of the left-wing Labor Party (PT). ) in the country. vote this weekend.

Amaral is part of a growing number of women who, according to polls, have recently rallied to Bolsonaro, a divisive candidate whose remarks belittling rape and defending the pay gap between men and women have long been alienated many voters.

If the trend continues, some of the women who have already hesitated before the former captain of the army could help propel him to the presidency or even a first-round victory on Sunday, according to pollsters and analysts .

This prospect fuels investors who fear a return to state policy, but terrorizes critics Bolsonaro, who argue that his views echo those of US President Donald Trump or even the intransigent Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.

Amaral said she was not enthusiastic about Bolsonaro's promise to loosen gun laws and hated her homophobic statements, but that she was willing to ignore them if she was able to beat the candidate's PT, Fernando Haddad.

"In truth, my vote is a protest vote," said Amaral, a 64-year-old retired official from downtown Rio de Janeiro. "At present, among the current candidates, none of them would be my choice to govern the country."

After leading Brazil for 13 of the past 15 years, the PT is blamed for a crippling recession, escalating violence and voracious corruption.

An Ibope poll released Wednesday night showed Bolsonaro a strong lead in the first round on Haddad, second.

This poll and others indicate that a second round between the two, which would take place on October 28 if no one wins a majority Sunday, would be tight.

Signs that Bolsonaro is gaining momentum have led the Brazilian stock index .BVSP to its highest level in nearly five months and its currency, the BRBY, to its highest level in nearly two months on Wednesday.

"(The polls) bring euphoria to the market (…) which is already starting to consider the possibility of a win (Bolsonaro) in the first round," said the strategist in charge of foreign exchange, Fernanda Consorte, from the bank Ourinvest.

FEMALE SUPPORT INCREASES

According to polls, Bolsonaro's support for women increased by about 6 percentage points last week alone.

This is all the more surprising since it only happens a few days after his candidacy was provoked by the biggest street protests led by women in Brazil for decades.

Far from slowing down Bolsonaro, a federal congressman who was hospitalized for much of September after being stabbed in an assassination attempt, the protests seem to have helped him, especially among some women who young progressive protesters as supporters of the PT.

Luzinete Silva, a 55-year-old Rio lawyer who recently decided to vote for Bolsonaro, said the women attending the protest were "misinformed".

"I do not think that these women are well educated and that they do not read the proposals (from Bolsonaro) and do not analyze what is going on all over the country," she said.

Nobody has won the presidency in Brazil in the first round since 1998.

However, sudden waves of anti-PT sentiment had an impact on recent local elections, such as Joao Doria's overwhelming victory over Haddad as mayor of Sao Paulo in 2016.

Bolsonaro's chances of victory on Sunday would be increased if the abstention was strong and if many voters voted blank or void, said Leonardo Barreto, head of the Factual political consultancy in Brasilia.

"If the trends detected by Ibope and Datafolha this week continue with additional growth for Bolsonaro, we could have a last wave of support for him," said Barreto.

Click here tmsnrt.rs/2Ixe0NI for a chart on the election of 2018 in Brazil.