SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has improved her odds of re-election since last month, while her potential rivals have lost ground, according to a Datafolha opinion poll published by Folha de S.Paulo newspaper yesterday.
Rousseff, a pragmatic leftist expected to seek a second term next October, won 47 per cent support in the most widely expected matchup – up from 42 per cent in last month’s poll.
Senator Aecio Neves of the traditional opposition party PSDB took 19 per cent and Pernambuco Governor Eduardo Campos, whose centre-left PSB party recently broke with the governing coalition, polled at 11 per cent.
Neves and Campos, who are still introducing themselves to a national audience, took 21 per cent and 15 per cent respectively in the October Datafolha poll. Rousseff’s popularity is recovering from widespread demonstrations in June against shoddy public services. Popular social programmes and nearly record-low unemployment have bolstered her support despite sluggish economic growth.
