RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the leftist former president who leads polls ahead of Brazil’s Oct. 2 election, said on Friday he does not expect to win in the first round, as recent polls show far-right President Jair Bolsonaro chipping away at his lead.
“Every candidate thinks of winning in the first round. I’ve never been lucky to win the first round, but I like two rounds,” he told reporters in Rio de Janeiro. Lula added he liked run-offs as they provide the opportunity for a “tete-a-tete debate.”
“If there’s a second round, we’ll win and I’ll keep working until the 1st (October) at midnight to try to convince voters to vote and solve this problem soon,” he said.
Although Lula has led most polls this year, his margin has been narrowing in the last couple of months. The latest poll by Genial/Quaest showed his lead had narrowed to 10 points from 12 points in a first round.
(Reporting by Rodrigo Viga Gaier, Writing by Carolina Pulice, editing by Deepa Babington)
