Arab News | Third-place finisher in Brazil election endorses Flavio Bolsonaro for runoff against Lula

BRASILIA: ‌Brazilian right-wing Senator Flavio Bolsonaro said on Thursday he had nabbed ​the endorsement of author-psychiatrist Augusto Cury, who ranked third in Sunday’s first-round election, for the October 25 runoff against leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Bolsonaro ‌shared a ‌video on ​social ‌media ⁠of ​Cury announcing the ⁠endorsement, following local media reports of Cury’s support.

Cury, from the Avante party, received 2.89 percent of the valid votes — which exclude blank ⁠and null ballots — ‌in the ‌first round.

Cury has ​avoided identifying ‌with either the political left ‌or right, instead campaigning under the slogan “Centered on what matters“.

Also among the top five finishers, ‌Ronaldo Caiado endorsed Bolsonaro earlier this week, while Renan ⁠Santos ⁠said he will not endorse either of the two candidates.

Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, exceeded expectations in the first-round vote with a slight lead over Lula — 47.03 percent vs 45.16 percent.

Bolsonaro slightly ahead in runoff

Meanwhile, Bolsonaro is slightly leading Lula in a simulated scenario of the October 25 presidential runoff, a Datafolha ‌poll showed ‌on Thursday.

The ‌senator, ⁠the ​eldest son ⁠of former President Jair Bolsonaro, would receive 49 percent of the vote compared with 45 percent for Lula, Datafolha poll showed.

It is the first ‌Datafolha ‌poll after the ​first-round ‌vote on Sunday, in which ‌the younger Bolsonaro surprisingly led Lula.

The poll’s result still represents a technical ‌tie as the poll’s margin of error is ⁠of ⁠plus-minus 2 percentage points.

5 percent of the respondents said they would cast a blank vote, and undecided voters made up 1 percent, the poll showed.

Datafolha surveyed 2,520 people ​in-person between ​October 6-7.