former brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silvabig favorite in the polls, voted this Sunday in Sao Bernardo do Campoa city in the metropolitan region of São Paulo where he began his political career, and said that the country needs “regain the right to be happy”.

“The country must regain the right to be happy. We want a country that lives in peace, with hope and that believes in the future,” Lula told reporters after voting at a public school in that city, where he arrived thirteen minutes after the polls opened. in the country.

Lula said the elections are “more importantfor him, who governed for two terms, between 2003 and 2010, after losing the elections of 1989, 1994 and 1998.

“In 2018 I couldn’t vote because I was in prison, the victim of a lieand four years later, I am voting in recognition of my total freedom and the possibility of becoming president of this country again and returning to normality,” added Lula, who remained in prison for 580 days for two convictions for corruption, subsequently quashed. by the Supreme Court.

In his statement to reporters, Lula criticized the management of the current president during the pandemic, Jair Bolsonarowho is seeking re-election.

Lula voted accompanied by his wife, Rosangela da Silvaknown as “Janja”, and some members of the progressive Workers’ Party (PT).

According to the latest polls published on Saturday, Lula has a clear advantage of fourteen percentage points over BolsonaroYes would receive between 50% and 51% of the valid votes projected by the two most reputable population companies in the country.

In the event that none of the candidates reaches more than half of the valid votes, the two most voted will have to face each other in a second round scheduled for October 30.

This year’s elections, the most polarized since Brazil regained democracy in 1985, have been characterized by a climate of tension between Lula and Bolsonaro, a dispute that has spread to his supporters, with some cases of attacks and politically motivated deaths.

(With information from EFE)

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