A Referendum On Jair

 

BRAZIL

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Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro took a hit in Brazil’s municipal elections after the candidates he endorsed either lost or will face tough races in run-off elections later this month, Bloomberg reported Monday.

Centrist parties performed well in Sunday’s vote while leftist parties – which were shunned a few years ago – are on track to regain some key cities in the second round.

Bolsonaro, a far-right leader without a party, backed dozens of candidates across the nation and gave his backing to allies in six capitals – four were trounced in the vote. For example, in Sao Paolo, Bolsonaro-backed Celso Russomanno won about 10 percent of the vote while Rio de Janeiro Mayor Marcelo Crivella trailed former Mayor Eduardo Paes and won only 22 percent of the vote.

Analysts called the election results a referendum on Bolsonaro: The far-right leader, who has long minimized the coronavirus, has antagonized numerous mayors over his handling of the pandemic.

“Bolsonaro’s power hadn’t been tested since he became president,” Deysi Cioccari, a political science professor at the Catholic University of Sao Paulo told Bloomberg. “He looks weaker after these elections.”

The nation of more than 200 million chose about 5,500 mayors and 57,000 city councilors in elections that took place without major problems, despite the pandemic and also an unsuccessful cyberattack against the electoral court’s systems.