Brazilians vote in runoff between Lula, former Sao Paulogovernor

Brazilians on Sunday went to polling stations in a presidential runoff which pitted incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva against former Sao Paulo state governor Geraldo Alckmin.

Polling stations across the country opened at 1100 GMT and will close 11 hours later.

According to the latest polls, President Lula, from the Workers Party (PT), has been widening his 22-percentage-point lead over Alckmin, from the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB).

Lula is highly popular among lower-class voters for his large-scale welfare program to cover the poor, while Alckmin is more favored among businessmen for his willingness to encourage business.

During their recent TV debates, Alckmin avoided issues such as the government's economic and social policies and stressed the involvement of members from Lula's PT in recent scandals.

The 53-year-old candidate of the PSDB, in particular, exploited the scandal that connected the PT with the purchase of a dossier on candidates of the PSDB. Alckmin asked the president to explain the origin of the money allegedly used by PT members to buy the dossier.

Lula declared that all the people charged with involvement in the case have been dismissed from their official posts and the authorities are further investigating the case.

Lula, 61, failed to clinch an outright victory over Alckmin in the Oct. 1 presidential election, during which the incumbent president got 48.6 percent of the votes against Alckmin's 41.6 percent.

Candidates must get 50 percent plus one valid vote to win in the first round.

On Sunday, about 125 million voters, or two-thirds of the country's population, will also elect governors in run-off races in 10 of Brazil's 27 states.

The next government will face a fractured parliament, with the PT holding 83 of the 513 seats in the lower house and 11 in the 81-seat Senate, Alckmin's PSDB having 66 deputies and 14 senators, and the remaining seats going to other parties.

Source: Xinhua