BRASILLIA, Oct 5 — Right-wing senator Flavio Bolsonaro finished ahead of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in yesterday’s election in which neither scored a majority, sending the tight race to a run-off in three weeks.
In a surprise result that defied opinion poll projections showing Lula in the lead, Flavio Bolsonaro scored 47 per cent of the vote to the incumbent’s 45 per cent.
If Bolsonaro triumphs in the October 25 election, the Latin American powerhouse will join a steady rightward march in the region in recent elections, a trend championed by US President Donald Trump.
The election results included a series of landslide wins for the right in parliament in a massive setback to Lula, who at almost 81 is seeking a fourth term in office to cement his legacy.
