Brazil vote: Far right Bolsonaro wins first round, to lock horns with Haddad in second
Brasilia, Oct 8 (IBNS): Brazil's far right candidate Jair Bolsonaro won the first round of votes in the presidential polls, surging ahead of closest rival Fernando Haddad by over 16 percent votes.
Bolsonaro managed 46 percent of the legal votes as opposed to 29.3 percent by Haddad.
However, as he failed to gather 50 percent of the votes, Bolsonaro and Haddad will face each other in the second round on Oct 28.
Bolsonaro, who survived a life threatening wound during campaign, is the leader of the once insignificant Social Liberal Party (PSL).
By virtue of the polls, the PSL is expected to become the single largest party in the Brazilian congress.
The new development has been termed by analysts and experts as a sea change in Brazilian politics.
However, the PSL isn't cruising home without creating controversies. Its leader Bolsonaro is viewed as a hugely controversial figure.
A former army captain, the politician has divided opinion with his homophobic and misogynistic rants. However, his anti-abortion stance has helped him win support from millions of Christians.
His economic promises involved reducing taxes, privatising state companies and capping foreign ownership of natural resources.
Reacting to the round one results, Bolsonaro said that he would have won outright, had some of the electronic voting machines not faulted.
"I am certain that if this hadn't happened, we would have known the name of the president of the republic tonight," he said.
Refuting his claim, Brazil's electoral authorities said that the vote took place peacefully without any problems.
Bolsenaro's opponent, Fernando Haddad, once running mate of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, took centrestage after the tainted former Brazilian President, who is serving a jail term, decided against contesting the polls.
Taking a subtle jab at Bolsonaro, Haddad told his supporters post the results, that he and his part will use only arguments. "...we don't use any guns," he said.
Speaking about the results, he said, "We need to approach this with a sense of responsibility. We want to unite the democrats of this country, to reduce inequality and to achieve social justice."
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