Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the leftist candidate, has been losing ground to right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro in most polls as the country’s contentious presidential election has become more competitive ahead of a vote on Sunday.
Lula was within striking distance of a come-from-behind victory, according to surveys by pollsters Datafolha and Quaest. The surveys found that Lula had 52% of the valid votes to Bolsonaro’s 48%, down from a 6-point lead three days earlier.
According to a poll conducted by MDA, Lula’s lead has shrunk to just 2 percentage points, which is also the margin of error for the poll conducted by CNT, the group for the transportation industry.
In spite of his graft convictions being overturned, most surveys still place Lula as the slight favourite to win a third term, concluding a spectacular political comeback.
But Bolsonaro surpassed polls in the first round voting on Oct. 2, and many observers believe the outcome of the election is uncertain.
Lula, however, maintained a steady and slightly larger lead according to the final opinion polls conducted by the pollsters IPEC and AtlasIntel.
Excluding unsure voters and those preparing to tamper with their ballots, IPEC put the lefty in the lead with 54% to 46% of the valid votes. Lula’s lead was still at 7 percentage points, according to AtlasIntel, one of the most reliable pollsters during the first round.
In Minas Gerais, a crucial state, Bolsonaro finished his campaign by riding a motorcycle rally with supporters. After addressing foreign reporters that his challenger was unqualified to serve as president, Lula went alongside thousands of supporters down a major street in Sao Paulo.
In their final televised discussion on Friday night, the sharply opposing candidates also made personal attacks against one another. In his opening statement, Bolsonaro refuted rumours that he would unpeg the minimum wage from inflation and declared that, if re-elected, he would raise it to 1,400 reais ($260) per month instead—a proposal that is not included in his government’s 2023 budget.
That outcome gave Bolsonaro more momentum to start the month than most surveys had predicted, but the last two weeks of the campaign have been challenging for him.
One of Bolsonaro’s allies shot at federal police officers who were about to arrest him a week ago.
Following a political altercation in the street on Sunday, Congresswoman Carla Zambelli, one of his closest allies, forced a Lula supporter into a Sao Paulo restaurant under threat of force, according to videos posted on social media. According to Zambelli, who spoke to reporters, she deliberately violated an electoral statute that forbids carrying a gun 24 hours before an election.
(With inputs from agencies)
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