The tumultuous Brazilian presidential election is featuring five candidates who all still have a chance of winning including: far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro of the Social Liberal Party, Ciro Gomes of the Democratic Labor Party, Geraldo Alckmin of the Brazilian Social Democratic Party, and Fernando Haddad of the Workers' Party, who is a replacement for the imprisoned former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
A new report released by Reuters on Wednesday details some of the reasons why this year has become one of the most divisive elections ever, even though it's still three weeks away from voters heading to the polls.
Surveys from the Ibope and Datafolha polling firms show the middle voters collapsed, diverging into the opposite ends of the political spectrum, focusong on Bolsonaro and Haddad.
Bolsonaro has run a campaign utilizing a number of techniques popularized by United States President Donald Trump, including claiming if he lost the election, it would be due to the leftist Workers Party rigging the voting system.
He has emerged as a front-runner in the election after surviving an assassination attempt where he was stabbed on Sept. 6 during a campaign event.
Meanwhile, the Workers Party (PT) called the election a fraud since Lula, its founder and Brazil's most popular politician, has not been allowed to run in the election due to his corruption conviction.
The PT has rallied for Lula, but that has also pushed some voters away due to concerns about political corruption and concerns over PT's newest candidate, Fernando Haddad potentially pardoning Lula and risking the future of democracy in Brazil.
While campaigning, Haddad has denied he would pardon Lula, even though he previously said the former president would be an essential adviser within his administration, even from a jail cell.
Analysts said it's highly unlikely the vote on Oct. 7 will bring Brazilians together, which increases the risk of whoever winning the election facing political tensions within their own party and a highly-motivated opposition.
“Many thought that by the time we got close to the election, some middle ground would be found, and that is not what we are seeing,” said Monica de Bolle, director of Latin American studies program at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, to Reuters.
She said Bolsonaro was likely heading for a runoff vote against Haddad later in October, noting how the election had become "very dangerous."
She said Bolsonaro and his vice presidential running mate, Hamilton Mourão, also a retired army general, have discussed “about constraining civil liberties and rewriting the Constitution in an authoritarian way."
Mourão even discussed having the armed forces to carry out a coup if the judiciary branch was unable to put an end to corruption.
“They are not shying away from saying these things openly and they are not being criticized for saying them,” she said.
She also said Bolsonaro's rise is due to many voters rejecting Lula's party.
“What I find really surprising is that there is a large segment of the Brazilian population, the elite, the people who should know better, who are basically throwing risk aside and saying ‘you know, I don’t care. I just don’t want the PT back in power,’” de Bolle said to Reuters.
Political scientist Carlos Melo with Insper, a Sao Paulo business school in Brazil, said Bolsonaro was discussing election fraud as a "preemptive measure" so he can question any future results.
“Bolsonaro is a political actor who has never fully supported Brazilian democracy,” Melo said. “His choice of Mourão as a running mate obviously adds another element that puts pressure on our democracy.”
Another Brazilian political scientist Sergio Praça at the Getulio Vargas Foundation said, “Until a few days ago, I would have said that any threat against Brazilian democracy was a joke. Now, there is a tense vibe. The rhetoric from Bolsonaro’s running mate is highly unusual, it is not normal.
Praça was likely referencing how Mourão previously called Brazil's 1988 Constitution "terrible and outdated."
Mourão also claimed "we need a new one" which he would "consider the mother of all reforms."
He also dismissed concerns about criticisms for his remarks, claiming: “if I were anti-democratic, I would not be participating in this election. I’d be home polishing my .45 pistol and waiting for better days.”
-WN.com, Maureen Foody