Brazilian Presidential Elections Oct. 2014
This coming October, Brazil will host its presidential elections to start a new four-year period. The electoral ballots will see 11 candidates, first on October 5th for the first round and, if necessary, on the 26th for the second round. The strongest candidate yet, with a high popularity rate, is Brazil’s current president, Dilma Rousseff, aiming for a reelection in the center-leftist Workers’ Party (PT). The former guerilla member and subsequent Minister of Energy and Chief of Staff during Lula da Silva’s administration is known to be a loyal successor to da Silva. She has won both national and international popularity with her expansionary fiscal policies. Standing between Rousseff and potential victory on October, however, are the controversies around her advocacy for building energy dams through the Amazon environment and her loose standing on LGBT rights. Furthermore, she recently faced a drop in popularity due to concerns over government fund allocations during the World Cup this year.
Following Rousseff as most popular in the majority of Brazil’s districts is Aecio Neves, representative of the centrist Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB) and current senator of Minas Gerais. He has gained a strong standing in popularity since his time as governor, when he implemented his “Management Shock” agenda: a contractionary fiscal policy of reduction in government expenditure but promotion of investment and improvement of public services.
Standing third in polls is Marina Silva, the candidate for the center-leftist Socialist Party and current senator of Acre. For years, Silva has grown in her international image as a famous and highly recognized environmentalist, and adamant advocate of the Amazon conservation. Prior to 2009, she was a member of the Workers’ Party (PT), along with Rousseff, but left to join the Green Party as the PT gave less priority to environmental issues during da Silva’s administration. Since then, Silva has become an “alternative” to Lula da Silva’s policies and campaign, and she is especially popular among Brazil’s youth and evangelicals. Silva has only recently been named presidential candidate for the Socialist Party, however, since the original candidate was Eduardo Campos, who passed away earlier this month. Given enough time to develop, Silva’s recently-established candidacy may pose a major threat to Lula da Silva’s reelection.
Represented by the rest of the candidates are, in order of current popularity, the centrist Social Christian Party, led by Pastor Everaldo, and the Green Party led by Eduardo Jorge. Following is Luciana Genro, the candidate for the leftist Socialism and Freedom Party (PSOL), Jose Eymael, candidate and founder of the center-right Christian Social Democratic Party, Jose Maria Almeida of the center-leftist United Socialist Workers’ Party, Levy Fidelix of the centrist Brazilian Labor Renewal Party, Mauro Iasi of the Brazilian Communist Party, and Rui Costa Pimenta of the Trotskyist Workers’ Cause Party.
It seems that, for the predominantly center-leftist election this October, Rousseff has an advantage over her fellow presidential candidates, although Marina Silva seems to be on the rise in popularity, as she and the Socialist Party are currently the strongest direct opposition to Rousseff and the PT. Nonetheless, the short notice of Silva’s candidacy is an obstacle to her current image in Brazil, and she must strengthen her campaign from now till October in order to overcome it.