2014-10-05 17:15:00

Brazilians go to the polls to choose their President


(Vatican Radio) Millions of Brazilians are going to the polls on Sunday to choose their President.

An outright victory is unlikely and the pollsters are predicting a second round runoff on October 26th.

Listen to the report by James Blears:
 
President Dilma Rousseff of the Workers Party is trying to win a second term. It appeared to be politically plain sailing until August when Eduardo Campos  the Socialist Party Candidate was killed in a plane crash. After a period of mourning, his Vice Presidential Candidate Mariana Silva- a former Government Minister and environmentalist,  stepped up and gained a momentum of support.


The third main Candidate is Aecio Neves from the Brazilian Party of Social Democracy, who's a former Senator and former Governor. So Dilma Rousseff has got a real election battle on her hands.

During her term she's managed to significantly reduce unemployment. However, she got kicked into touch by the soccer World Cup. Millions of Brazilians resented the lavish spending on the world's biggest sporting contest and took to the streets for weeks to protest. In two more years Brazil will host the world's second largest sporting extravaganza...the Olympic Games.

This Election also chooses State Governors and the Federal Government. 142.8 million Brazilians are registered to vote, which is compulsory. The age range for this is 18-70. Suprisingly and disappointingly the Brazilian system doesn't seem to recognize or acknowledge the accumulated lifetime of wisdom for anyone who is older than that!

 








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