Even as he sits in jail, former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has increased his support by 5 percentage points. Although highly unlikely, if allowed to run, Lula would win October’s presidential election; he takes 37.3% of votes in the latest CNT/MDA poll. Jair Bolsonaro, the far-right candidate who leads polls if Lula isn’t allowed to run, only received 18.3 percent.
The Worker’s Party (PT) efforts to generate enough popular support to force the courts to set him free and allow him to campaign seem to be working. In Rio de Janeiro, thousands of Brazilians attended a “free Lula” concert where some of the country’s most popular musicians performed in support of the former president.
But even as millions of Brazilians continue to support a candidate that will most likely not have his name added to the ballot, the debacle is only a small part of a larger problem with Brazil’s democracy. Record numbers of Brazilians are expected to skip the vote—an Ibope poll released this week found that 29% of Brazilians had no intention of voting in October’s elections. No matter who wins the presidency, they will have a hard time governing the country.
The corruption wave that crashed into Brazil has destabilized the country’s political system, pushed the economy into recession and left thousands unemployed. As the election approaches, Brazil’s democracy rests in the hands of the country’s electoral court.
