Brazil's far-right candidate Bolsonaro increases election lead -poll (UPDATE 1)


Devdiscourse News Desk | Updated: 02-10-2018 06:00 IST | Created: 02-10-2018 05:46 IST
Brazil's far-right candidate Bolsonaro increases election lead -poll (UPDATE 1)
  • Country:
  • Brazil

Brazil's far-right presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro has a 10-point lead over leftist Workers Party candidate Fernando Haddad, and would tie in a second-round runoff against him next month, an opinion poll showed on Monday.

Bolsonaro, who is recovering from a near-fatal stabbing, has increased his lead ahead of the election this Sunday with 31 per cent of voter support in a simulated first-round ballot, the survey by polling firm Ibope said. Haddad has 21 per cent.

In the likely case of a runoff vote on Oct. 28, required if no candidate takes a majority, Bolsonaro and Haddad both had 42 per cent, with the remaining voters undecided or saying they would annul their ballots.

Haddad surged after he replaced jailed former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on the Workers Party ticket, who was banned last month by an electoral court from running from prison, but his support remained stagnant compared to the same Ibope poll last week.

Bolsonaro gained on Haddad in the runoff scenario. Last week Haddad had 42 per cent against Bolsonaro's 38 per cent.

Ibope said support for centre-left candidate Ciro Gomes remained stable at 11 per cent, while business-friendly former Sao Paulo governor Geraldo Alckmin dropped to 8 per cent.

The poll, published by the Estado de S.Paulo newspaper and TV Globo, surveyed 3,010 voters across Brazil on Sept. 29 and 30. It has a margin of error of two percentage points. 

(With inputs from agencies.)

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