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Three days ahead of vote, Brazil's Lula looks set for re-election
Reuters
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva
By Patrick Moser
AFP
SAO PAULO
Petroleumworld.com 09 29 06With three days to go to Brazil's elections, candidates wrapped up their campaigns Thursday, with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, 60, remaining the clear favorite despite a mushrooming scandal implicating some of his closest aides.
Lula's final electoral rally was to be held in San Bernardo dos Campos, the stronghold of his leftist Workers Party (PT) just outside Sao Paulo.
The president's main but distant rival, former Sao Paulo governor Geraldo Alckmin, 53, for his part, pressed the flesh on Rio de Janeiro's famed beachfront Copacobana neighborhood on Thursday, the last day of electoral campaigning.
Lula provided a bit of 11th-hour suspense, saying he would only decide at the last minute whether he would confront Alckmin at a televised debate in the evening.
The president had not participated in the previous debate, contrary to Alckmin, who faced longshot candidates and an empty chair reserved for the absent front-runner.
While Lula's strong charisma stands in sharp contrast with the public personality of Alckmin -- a self-described "bland politician" -- the president risked coming under direct attack over the latest scandal to rocked the South American country.
While opinion polls gave him a more than comfortable lead over Alckmin, he remained dangerously close to the 50 percent needed to win outright on Sunday and avert a runoff election.
The latest voter intention polls suggested Lula would get 53 percent of the valid votes, and a lead of 20 to 21 percentage points over Alckmin.
A one-time shoeshine boy with little formal education, Lula draws solid support from the millions of impoverished Brazilians, who often identify with his humble background.
His backing is in large part attributed to a program that hands out cash subsidies to 11 million needy families, but also to the economic successes of his government, despite disappointing economic growth.
A former metalworker and strike leader, Lula dropped his once fiery leftist rhetoric after his 2002 election, maintaining orthodox economic policies and steering well clear of the type of virulent anti-US discourse cherished by President Hugo Chavez of neighboring Venezuela.
Lula's popularity has survived a series of scandals which implicated senior officials in his government and party.
Lula has insisted he had no knowledge of the affairs until they came to light and fired several of his close aides.
In the latest scandal, two PT officials were arrested in mid-September with almost 800,000 dollars in cash they allegedly planned to use to buy documents that allegedly could tie Alckmin to a corrupt deal.
On Tuesday, authorities issued arrest warrants against six others, including a Lula adviser and campaign officials.
Alckmin's campaign issued a legal complaint arguing that Lula benefited from "abuses of power" though it did not present any evidence to suggest the president was aware of the wrongdoing.
The complaint sought to have Lula's candidacy annulled. While the courts are unlikely to address the lawsuit before the election, the issue could hang over Lula if he does win a second term.
In what was widely interpreted as a damage-control move, Lula sent one of his top aides with ministerial rank, Tarso Genro to call for a total restructuring of the PT that would rid the party of anyone linked to any of the sleaze.
Another scandal, over vote-buying and illegal campaign financing, had forced several cabinet ministers and PT officials to resign last year.
While the 2005 affair threatened to derail Lula's re-election bid, the charismatic president has since made a major comeback, thanks in part to the popularity of his government's social programs.
AFP 28 2114 GMT 09 06
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