BRASILIA, Oct 21 — Veteran leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Thursday he is keeping an eye on poll numbers showing his lead narrowing over far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro for Brazil’s October 30 presidential runoff, but confident he will win.
The ex-president (2003-2010), the long-time front-runner in the race, made the comment a day after leading polling firm Datafolha found he had 52 per cent of the vote to 48 per cent for Bolsonaro.
The gap was two percentage points narrower than the previous week (53 per cent to 47 per cent), and within the poll’s margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points.
“The poll just serves to alert us,” said Lula, 76, who in May had a lead of 21 points over the president, according to Datafolha.
“There’s a little over one week left in the campaign. We’re fighting for the so-called abstention vote -- people who didn’t vote, small segments of society. It’s a very tight race,” he told a news conference in Rio de Janeiro, where he spent the day campaigning.
But “I’m sure we’re going to win,” he added.
“I think it’s impossible for (Bolsonaro) to make up the difference in a week, even with all the crazy stuff he does, all the lies he tells.”
Lula finished with 48 per cent of the vote in the first round on October 2, to 43 per cent for Bolsonaro — who out-performed pollsters’ predictions. — AFP
