Brazil’s President
Bolsonaro campaigns in London ahead of state funeral
“Wherever I go, the acceptance is simply exceptional”: Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro (archive photo). photo
© Eraldo Peres/AP/dpa
A new president will be elected in Brazil in 14 days. Left icon Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is clearly leading in polls, but incumbent Jair Bolsonaro is confident of victory.
Despite a significant deficit in the polls, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has shown himself confident of victory two weeks before the presidential election. Bolsonaro made the statement in London, where he is staying for the funeral ceremonies for the late Queen Elizabeth II.
“It’s impossible that we don’t win in the first round,” said Bolsonaro from the Brazilian ambassador’s residence, where supporters had gathered, as the Brazilian news portal “G1” reported on Sunday. “Where I go, the acceptance is just extraordinary.”
Polls have been suggesting for weeks that the right-wing agitator in Latin America’s largest country will be replaced after this term. Bolsonaro was behind ex-president and left-wing icon Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the latest survey by the polling institute Datafolha on Thursday.
According to the current status, Lula can hope for around 45 percent of the votes in the first round of voting on October 2nd. Bolsonaro would therefore receive about 33 percent of the votes. Far behind is the social democratic politician Ciro Gomes, who got 8 percent in the poll. In Brazil, it was expected that Bolsonaro would also use the London trip for election campaign purposes – also to show that he was not isolated internationally.