Politics
Socialist Lula da Silva leads Bolsonaro in Brazilian presidential poll
These results are especially polemic for Bolsonaro whose rejection rate appears to be the highest among all potential candidates – with 59% of those surveyed saying they would never vote for him and 61% saying they disapproved of the way he was governing
March 21, 2022 11:52am
Updated: March 21, 2022 6:20pm
When Brazilians head to the polls on October 2, they will see familiar faces on the ballot as current President Jair Bolsonaro, a conservative, faces off against former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva – a socialist who is once again running for office after being cleared of corruption charges in March.
But a recent survey conducted by pollster FSB Pesquisa found that Lula, who served two terms from 2003 to 2010, holds a comfortable lead in the run-up to October’s election and voters have said they would favor the former president by 43% to 29% if the election were held today – a sign that Brazilians perhaps blame Bolsonaro for the country’s rising fuel prices.
According to the data, Lula’s 14-point lead widens to 19 percentage points in a runoff between Lula and Bolsonaro – disregarding the other candidates in the crowded field which includes former Governor and Minister Ciro Gomes, São Paulo Governor João Doria, and former Minister of Justice Sérgio Moro—the judge who put Lula behind bars.
These results are similar to others published by the Council of the Americas which show Lula leading in several other recent polls.
These results are especially polemic for Bolsonaro whose rejection rate appears to be the highest among all potential candidates – with 59% of those surveyed saying they would never vote for him and 61% saying they disapproved of the way he was governing. Similarly, when asked who was to blame for high gasoline and diesel prices, 29% of voters polled pointed at the Bolsonaro government while only 22% blamed state-run Petrobras oil company and only 18% blamed the war in Ukraine, Reuters reported.
The conservative president will launch his re-election campaign next Sunday and has stated that he will focus on corruption under Lula. He also dismissed the polls as inaccurate.
"I don't believe in polls, but the guy who practically destroyed Brazil is ahead," he said in a radio interview. "Either the surveys are fraudulent or people are not well informed."
