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SAO PAULO / BRASILIA (Reuters) – Attempts at the union of the Brazilian left against right-wing leader Jair Bolsonaro have been met with internal quarrels, making it even more difficult to bridge the gap between opinion polls less than two weeks before the second round election.
Fernando Haddad, presidential candidate of the Workers' Party of the Left (PT) in Brazil, attends a press conference in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on October 16, 2018. REUTERS / Paulo Whitaker
The latest poll, released by Ibope late Monday, showed that conservative Bolsonaro had a lead over left-wing rival Fernando Haddad with 59 percent of the votes cast, compared with 41 percent for Haddad.
The poll, whose details were published Tuesday in S.Paulo's Estado newspaper, revealed to Haddad a higher "rejection" rate among voters before the second round, on October 28, partly because of his dislike for the Workers Party (PT). even among colleagues on the left. About 47% of respondents said they would never vote for him, compared to 35% who rejected Bolsonaro.
The bad news for Haddad came as efforts to attract voters from Ciro Gomes, who came in third in the first round of voting on Oct. 7 after a center-left campaign on the Democratic Labor Party's list, came to an end. turned into a screaming match during an election campaign. event on Monday evening.
At a rally in northeastern Ceará, won by Gomes in the first vote, his brother and campaign director, Cid Gomes, was named to officially support Haddad.
But Cid Gomes seized the opportunity to claim a "mea culpa" on sprawling transplant schemes orchestrated by PT leaders. The party's founder, former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, is in prison for a conviction for corruption. Videos of the event showed that Cid Gomes was confronted with noisy rumors.
"You will lose the election and it's your fault," said Cid Gomes. "You morons! Lula is in prison!
The PT has held the presidency for 13 of the last 15 years and many appreciate Lula for his social policies, meant to make life easier for the poor in one of the most unequal countries in the world.
Haddad, the former mayor of Sao Paulo, has been unable to dissociate himself from the disdain of many Brazilians for the role played by the party in corruption cases revealed by investigators in recent years.
Haddad had a hard time defending Lula, whom the PT considers to be an unfairly convicted political prisoner, and recognizing the party's mistakes.
Bolsonaro, a 63-year-old Congressman representing seven warrants and openly defending the 1964-1985 Brazilian military dictatorship, calls himself the anti-establishment candidate and appeals to voters who are fed up with political and political corruption. violent crimes.
Report by Gram Slattery in Sao Paulo and Brad Brooks in Brasilia; Edited by Brad Haynes, Leslie Adler and Frances Kerry
