by Ricardo Brito
BRASILIA (Reuters) – President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) called “fake news” the polls released on Saturday that showed former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) ahead of voting intentions for Sunday’s election, including with the possibility of winning in the first round, and said he will be re-elected this weekend.
In a live broadcast on social media, Bolsonaro said that Datafolha was “joking” with the percentage of votes pointed to Lula, and insinuated that the institute should be investigated for “fake news”.
“We keep looking at these elections here… there is so much talk about fighting fake news, those who fight, demonetize pages, arrest others, worry about Datafolha, talking barbarity around. Who has 51% of votes?” he asked.
Surveys Ipec and Datafolha released this Saturday point to a lack of definition as to whether Lula will win or not in the first round. Ipec registered the former president with 51% of valid votes against 37% for Bolsonaro.
Datafolha, on the other hand, showed Lula with 50% of the valid votes, against 36% for Bolsonaro, which indicates a lack of definition about the second round. A candidate needs more than half of the valid votes –which exclude blanks and nulls– to win in the first round.
Bolsonaro said that his supporters took to the streets spontaneously, noting that he had a “popstar reception” in the Northeast, a region that is a traditional stronghold for Lula.
“We cannot see any other result than that the elections are decided tomorrow with 60%”, he said, contradicting the institutes’ indications. “I’ve never seen so many people on the street in any election in the past,” he said.
In total, six polls released this Saturday showed Lula’s advantage in the dispute for the Planalto Palace, including chances of victory in the first round. [L1N3120NP]
TRANSPARENCY
The reelection candidate took advantage of the live to attack Lula and say that he and the “people on the left” intend to carry forward agendas such as gender ideology and the legalization of drug use. He also criticized the management of leftist governments in other countries in South America, and said that this could happen in Brazil if PT wins.
Bolsonaro said that it is necessary to be “certain” that the elections will be clean in Brazil and that, contrary to the polls indicating Lula at the front, his wanderings show him “fired” in the presidential succession.
Bolsonaro ended the campaign before Sunday’s vote with two motorcycle riders this Saturday, the first in São Paulo and then in Joinville (SC)
On Sunday, the president will travel to Rio de Janeiro early in the morning to vote and will return to Brasília until early afternoon to follow the counting of votes.
(Edited by Pedro Fonseca)
#Bolsonaro #calls #polls #fake #news #win #1st