BRAZIL
A Loud ‘No’
Center and center-right parties were declared the winners of run-off municipal elections across Brazil, marking a major defeat for far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, the Irish Times reported Monday.
Bolsonaro-backed candidates failed to secure races in key cities in a defeat that underscores the resurgence of traditional, more centrist parties.
The biggest loss for Bolsonaro’s far-right agenda was the defeat of incumbent Rio mayor, Marcelo Crivella, a bishop of a powerful neo-Pentecostal church: Crivella failed to win a single city district and was defeated by former mayor Eduardo Paes.
Local elections are an important indicator for the general elections in 2022 – mayors are crucial in fomenting support for presidential candidates.
Along with Bolsonaro, the left-wing Workers Party also failed to win a single state capital and won only four of the 15 cities it contested. The party’s poor performance shows that voters have not yet forgiven the left for the economic mismanagement and corruption scandals that marked the last year of its 13 years in power.
The election results will increase pressure on the Workers Party to drop its iconic leader, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva – jailed in 2018 on corruption and money-laundering charges – as the candidate for any left-wing ticket in the upcoming national elections.
The former president has been barred from running in elections due to the convictions, which he is appealing.
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