Trailing in polls, Brazil's Bolsonaro kicks off re-election drive

BRAZIL • President Jair Bolsonaro was officially set to kick off his re-election campaign yesterday by rallying thousands of his followers to Rio de Janeiro, after intensifying his attempts to discredit Brazil's voting system.

He is calling on the government faithful to pack an Olympic arena in a working-class neighbourhood for an event billed as "United for the Good of Brazil".

But with just over two months before the first round of voting in October, opinion surveys widely show that Brazilians think they would be better off without him.

Frustration over spiralling costs of living has propelled former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to lead the race by more than 10 percentage points over the incumbent. The leftist Workers' Party officially nominated Mr Lula as its candidate last Thursday.

In response, the far-right President Bolsonaro has intensified baseless claims of voter fraud and pushed for a flurry of measures to cushion the blow of inflation running at nearly 12 per cent.

Earlier this month, Congress enacted a multibillion-dollar aid package proposed by the government that expanded cash assistance to the poor.

It remains unclear if the tactics will be enough to drum up additional support or restore faith in Mr Bolsonaro's stewardship of Latin America's largest economy.

Economists are warning of a recession later this year; hunger is rising.

"At this stage, voting is very much crystallised. There's not much room for growth," said Mr Rodolfo Pinto Costa, director of the polling firm PoderData.

Further evidencing the polarisation currently gripping Brazil, the event was targeted by anti-Bolsonaro activists who registered false attendees in a bid to empty the arena. Campaign officials said they detected as many as 40,000 fake registrations.

Despite trailing in all major polls, Mr Bolsonaro, 67, has so far ignored the advice of his own advisers to moderate his rhetoric.

Instead, he has focused his energy on firing up the most fervent in his base.

For months, Mr Bolsonaro has tried to rekindle the anti-establishment fervour that helped bring him to power in 2018.

He casts his main challenger, Mr Lula, 76, a leftist two-term former president, as a corrupt leader who is seeking to bring about communist rule.

But after his botched handling of the pandemic and the economy fizzling, many have grown tired of Mr Bolsonaro's government.

"The election is much more about Bolsonaro and whether or not people want him for another four years," said Dr Oliver Stuenkel, a professor of international relations at the Getulio Vargas Foundation in Sao Paulo.

BLOOMBERG