Brazilian Elections: what you need to know

This October, Brazil, one of the world’s largest democracies, goes to the polls. This vote will be massively consequential for Brazil’s future, with a variety of matters being called into question and a clash of personalities that could set a precedent for Brazil, if not the world.

So, who are the candidates?

Jair Bolsonaro, the incumbent president, ex-military officer and congressman of 27 years, has on multiple occasions been compared to Trump, this comparison has been made due to his similar views and past comments on the environment, guns, and women. However, this over-the-top Trumpian personality is what attracts many Brazilians to his politics

Bolsonaro is arguably a populist, and like many populist candidates around the world, he has mastered the art of social media. For Bolsonaro this has been TikTok and WhatsApp.

Luiz Ináncio Lula da Silva, former president, and worker’s rights activist is running now for his 3^rd term after having already served from 2003-2010. Lula was possibly the most popular leader in the world, leaving office with an approval rating of 87%.

Lula, as he’s more popularly known, is credited with forging the path to become one of the worlds up and coming economic superpowers as a member of the BRICS, while simultaneously lifting 20 million out of poverty.

Despite this extreme popularity, he was convicted on bribery charges as part of the wider ‘Operation Car Wash’ scandal. However, the conviction was annulled in 2021.

The first round of the elections knocked out all other candidates apart from Lula and Bolsonaro, who won 48% and 43% of the vote respectively. This means that the two candidates will fight for the presidency over the coming weeks until the run-off election on the 30^th of October.

What are the issues of this election?

The economy has recently experienced bouts of high inflation over the past 2 years with the IMF putting rates at 5.2% higher than in 2019. As well as this, Brazil still has a 16 million living below the poverty line.

Crime and gun violence are both key issues, as in Brazil there are 4.4 million civilian gun owners, meaning there are more gunowners than the police. Bolsonaro’s recent rollbacks on gun reform have been temporarily reversed by the Supreme Court due to fears of electoral violence.

The Brazilian amazon has experienced increased deforestation on the watch of the current president, and infringement on indigenous land rights and worst of all is the raging forest fires that have raged in recent years.

The question of public health has certainly been thrown into the electoral discourse, as Brazil was hit with a death toll of nearly 700,000. This was because of the pandemic bringing into question Bolsonaro’s public health management capabilities.

These issues will be in the forefront of Brazilians’ minds on the 30^th.

Current polls show that Lula is still in the lead with 49% of the vote but Bolsonaro has marginally increased his vote share by 1%. This has left the election potential to go either way.