Brazil To Elect President Amid Corruption Claim

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 26 Oktober 2014 | 15.00

By Karine Mayer, South America News Editor

Nearly 143 million people are expected to go to the polls in Brazil's presidential election run-off today.

The conservative elite are threatening to kick the left out of power after 12 years.

Voters will choose between incumbent Dilma Rousseff of the Workers Party and Social Democratic Party rival Aecio Neves.

The latest polls give Ms Neves a slight lead.

The challenges for whoever wins will be to fight inflation which is creeping up and boost the economy that has slowed down in the last couple of years.

Ms Rousseff, 66, is a former Marxist guerrilla who fought military dictatorship and was imprisoned and tortured in the 1970s.

Her 54-year-old opponent, from an aristocratic family, has been trying to shed his playboy reputation.

Mr Neves is the grandson of the first president who was elected democratically in 1985 but who died before he could take office.

As the last presidential debate started on Friday, a right-wing news magazine, Veja, published a corruption claim on its front page.

Between a picture of Ms Rousseff and former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (popularly known as Lula) were the words "they knew everything."

A former executive at Petrobras testified he had accepted bribes on behalf of the energy firm to give lucrative contracts to dozens of construction companies.

And he claimed he handed over some of the cash to Lula and Ms Rousseff's Worker's party (PT) and close allies.

Ms Rousseff has been trying to appeal to the business supporters of Mr Neves, and he in turn has promised to keep the welfare plan (bolsa familia) which helps nearly three million low income families.

All Brazilians aged between 18-70 have to vote, and in the fifth largest country in the world all polling stations have 'electronic urns'.

Some urns have a long road to travel.

In the northern state of Para, in the Amazon, urns had a 30-hour boat trip down the Amazon River and were then guided by the local indigenous people to their village Waiwai.

Video: Brazil Chooses: Neves Or Rousseff?

They are carefully guarded, with over 35,000 troops joining local police across the country.

Claudio Pereira, a Brazilian military police spokesperson, said: "This weekend, Saturday and Sunday, we will have 35,000 military police officers working for the election, guarding the ballot boxes, taking care of all the voting areas, 5,418 voting centres."

They will be focused in the poorer neighbourhoods and favelas or "communities" as they are known in Rio de Janeiro.

At the end of the last debate, each candidate addressed voters for a final time.

Ms Rousseff said: "I want a Brazil that wants to grow together."

Mr Neves said: "I represent a change of values and what you're looking for, no longer a political party."


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