Ex-Brazilian Prez leads in pre-election polls

Brasilia, Sep 3 (IANS) Just a month before the October 2 election, former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva led the latest poll with 45 per cent of the vote, trailed by incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro with 32 per cent.

According to the Datafolha poll released on Friday, Lula da Silva, a candidate of the Workers' Party, slipped 2 percentage points from 47 per cent in the last survey on August 18, while Bolsonaro remained steady at 32 per cent, reports Xinhua news agency.

Candidate Ciro Gomes of the Democratic Labor Party was in the third place with 9 per cent of the vote, followed by Tebet of the Brazilian Democracy Movement with 5 per cent.

The data was collected from 5,734 people in 284 municipalities between August 30 and September 1 to capture the nation's reaction to the first televised presidential debate held on August 28 in the city of Sao Paulo.

Brazil will vote on October 2 to elect a new president, vice president, governors, deputies and senators.

If no candidate emerges as a clear winner, a runoff will take place on October 30.