MOSCOW, October 6. /TASS/. Brazilian incumbent President Dilma Rouseff, the Workers’ Party’s presidential candidate, has every chance of emerging as a winner in the run-off despite all obstructions that may get in the way, believes the head of the National Committee for BRICS Studies, State Duma member from the ruling United Russia party, Vyacheslav Nikonov. “The fact that Rouseff collected more than 40% of the votes in last Sundays’ first round of the presidential election is a sure sign she may attain victory in the second round, due on October 26,” the analyst told TASS in an interview.
Last Sunday, October 5, Brazil held the first round of the presidential election, which failed to identify the winner. The incumbent head of state appears to have received about 41.5% of the votes. Social Democrat Aecio Nevis, a former senator, came in second with more than 33%.
Rouseff was elected Brazilian president at the beginning of 2011 to have become the first woman to take the highest state post in the country. An effective war on poverty is one of the greatest assets she has to her credit. Over the past years, more than 22 million Brazilians joined the middle class. As opinion polls indicate, Rouseff is a favorite of the presidential election race irrespective of who might have been her rival in the second round.
“Russia appreciates cooperation with Brazil within the BRICS group of sates and in bilateral relations. Brazil under Rouseff will never join anti-Russian sanctions, which the United States has imposed over the events in Ukraine and which have been supported by the European Union and other countries around the world,” Nikonov said.
“Moreover, Brazil is expanding cooperation with Russia. The two countries have signed a number of major trade agreements, including those on the supplies of farm produce and sea foods to Russia,” the expert said.
“In its foreign policy Rouseff’s Brazil, in contrast to the stance taken by the pro-US Brazilian opposition, shows not the slightest hint that it may support the United States’ hegemonistic designs. Memories are still fresh of the years-long tapping of local politicians’ telephones by US secret services,” Nikonov recalled.
Sports affairs have had a very unexpected effect on Brazil’s presidential election. In other words, Brazilian fans’ enthusiasm have been employed to rock the political situation in the country. On the eve of last summer’s FIFA World Cup, the United States and some Western non-governmental organizations were very active in fanning and financing mass protests against Brazil’s heavy budget spending on the construction of sports facilities,” the legislator said.
“As a matter of fact, Brazil last summer saw an attempt to employ the same scenario of shaking the authorities loose and then deposing them altogether that was first staged in Ukraine and can now be seen in protest demonstrations in Hong Kong. In Rio de Janeiro the scheme did not work, but part of the electorate has remained angry about the authorities' domestic policies,” Nikonov said. “The voters, many of them football fans, would have forgiven the country’s leadership for many shortfalls but for the stunning defeat that the national team suffered in the World Cup finals. It looked like the whole nation plunged into prolonged mourning. Oddly enough, many voters blamed the defeat on the football pitch on the government. As a result, Rouseff failed to win in the first found.”
“In the run-up to the runoff due on October 26, Rouseff should brace for a tide of criticism over the economy’s slowdown and unresolved problems in healthcare and education. But she is an experienced political heavyweight determined to win,” Nikonov said in conclusion.
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