A new poll conducted by pollster IBOPE for the Brazilian National Confederation of Industry (CNI), released on Thursday, shows Brazil’s ex-president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva remains the leading candidate in voting intention for the country’s upcoming election in October.
When interviewees are presented with a list of potential candidates, Lula is the answer for 33 percent of voters, followed by far-right extremist candidate Jair Bolsonaro, with 15 percent, and center-right Marina Silva, with 7 percent.
In a poll where no candidate names are listed to interviewees, Lula has 21 percent of voting intention, followed by Bolsonaro with 11 percent. Marina Silva and centrist Ciro Gomes are tied for third with 2 percent of voting intention each. In this scenario, 31 percent of interviewees would not vote for anyone and 28 percent are not sure.
If Lula does not run, Bolsonaro takes the lead in the poll with 17 percent, followed by Marina Silva with 13 percent, and Ciro with 8 percent. While Lula has been in prison for 80 days, twice as many voters would vote for him over the second place.
A member of the Workers’ Party's National Board, Rosane da Silva says that the fact that Lula is topping polls even while he is held as a political prisoner actually shows that the Brazilian people believes the country has grown and invested in welfare for the majority of the population during the Workers’ Party administrations.
“This shows the Brazilian people and the world that [ex-]president Lula is the only one with the political skill to regain development momentum, investing public funds in social programs. The Brazilian people has made their decision: they want to be happy again,” Rosane says.
Temer administration
IBOPE also surveyed how Brazilian voters rate the Michel Temer administration.
The poll shows 79 percent of interviewees think Brazil’s current administration is “bad” or “very bad,” while 16 percent find it “regular.” The number of voters who think it is “good” or “very good” is as low as 4 percent.
Ninety percent of voters interviewed disapprove the way Michel Temer has been running the country, while 7 percent approve it. Three percent don’t know or chose not to answer.
