Brazil Presidential Election Will Go To Second Round As President Jair Bolsonaro Defies Pre-Poll Predictions To MountsA Strong Performance

Brazil's presidential election will go to a run-off as neither of the top two presidential candidates - Jair Bolsonaro, the incumbent and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a leftist former president- garnered enough support to score an outright victory in the elections held on Sunday. The pair will face each other in a run-off on October 30th.

With almost all votes tallied, Lula da Silva had 48.3% support, while President Bolsonaro polled 43.3%. Nine other candidates were also competing, but their support pales to that of Bolsonaro and da Silva, commonly known as Lula.

The result was far tighter than most opinion polls that predicted a commanding lead for Lula and turned out to be a massive disappointment for his supporters, who were confident that their leader would secure an outright majority in the first round of the country's presidential election.

Bolsonaro, who significantly outperformed pollsters' predictions, will be buoyed by the result and will enter the final round of the race with momentum clearly on his side.

Defying dire pre-poll forecasts, Bolsonaro surprised with a solid electoral performance in Brazil's southeast region, which includes populous Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais states.

Many prominent Bolsonaro supporters were elected to Brazil's congress and state governors, including his former health minister, Eduardo Pazuello, who became a congressman for Rio, and his former environment minister Ricardo Salles. Bolsonaro's supporters also emerged victorious in at least 19 of the 27 available Senate seats, besides a strong showing in the lower house.

Bolsonaro, a former army captain, has built a devoted support base by defending conservative values, rebuffing political correctness and presenting himself as protecting the nation from leftist policies that he says infringe on personal liberties and produce economic turmoil.

During the campaign trail, he promised to privatise the state-owned oil company, pass pro-gun legislation, cut corporation taxes, and toughen restrictions on abortion.

Lula, the leader of the PT (Workers' party), the dominant left-of-centre force in Brazilian politics, is credited by his supporters for building an extensive social welfare program during his 2003-2010 tenure. But his regime was mired in vast corruption scandals that entangled politicians and business executives.

Lula's own convictions for corruption and money laundering led to 19 months of imprisonment, sidelining him from the 2018 presidential race that polls indicated he had been leading against Bolsonaro. The Supreme Court later annulled da Silva's convictions on the grounds that the judge was biased and colluded with prosecutors.

(With inputs from PTI)