There are still a few votes to be counted but surely no doubt about the result: Dilma Rousseff and José Serra will face each other in the second round of Brazil’s presidential election on October 31.
The voters fooled us all, including beyondbrics. It seemed Dilma could not fail to win, either in a first or second round. But with 96 per cent of the votes counted, Dilma is on 46.4 per cent, Serra on 32.9 per cent and Marina Silva (pictured) on 19.6 per cent.
It has been a crushing night for Dilma and her mentor, outgoing president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Even if she didn’t win outright, Dilma had to come close. Now Serra is looking like a viable contender. And Marina may be strong enough to use her support to swing it either way.
That is a fascinating prospect. Of the three leading candidates, she was the only one to use TV debates to promote reform of Brazil’s bloated pensions system, for example. Already this evening, leaders of Serra’s PSDB have been calling on her to secure her support.
It could be a bruising second round, with more surprises in store.
Stefan Wagstyl
Josh Noble
Rob Minto
Pan Kwan Yuk
Jonathan Wheatley
Heba Saleh