Brazil: Imprisoned Lula Maintains Lead in Presidental Polls

Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva would receive 39 percent of the vote in the first round of October's presidential election according to a recently conducted poll.

RELATED: 
'Free or Jailed' Lula Will Be Elected President: Dilma

According to the poll conducted by the Unified Worker's Central (CUT) and Vox Populi Lula's popularity places him over nine points ahead of the combined 30 percent support received by all other aspirants to the country's highest office. 

His closest individual rival, Jair Bolsonaro, a Congressman and member of the Social Liberal Party, finished second in the poll with 12 percent of those surveyed stating that they would support him. While Marina Silva is third on six percent with Ciro Gome fourth having received four percent of the vote. Geraldo Alckmin and Alvaro Dias received three percent and two percent respectively. 

Other hopefuls in the presidential election such as Henrique Meirelles, Manuela D'Avila, and Joao Amoedo, would receive just one percent of the according to the poll with others failing to receive any traction. 

“What we have now are almost 14 million people unemployed, not to mention those who are underemployed, absurd increases in fuel, diesel and cooking gas and a discredited, cornered government, void of political capital to negotiate the end of the truck driver mobilization,” said CUT president Vagner Freitas following the release of the poll.

Freitas noted that people have not forgotten that Lula was responsible for generating 20 million jobs and more equitable wealth distribution during his term, despite the 2008 international economic crisis.

The survey was conducted between May 19 – 23 and published on Monday.

Lula has been detained in solitary confinement for the past 53 days at the Federal Police headquarters in Curitiba, Parana.

Despite his imprisonment, an event that many legal experts and observers attribute to lawfare and a salacious mainstream media campaign, he has topped every 2018 electoral poll conducted by Vox Populi, Ibope, Datafolha, Data Poder 360, Instituto Parana, the National Confederation of Transportation/MDA and Ipsos.

Lula's two terms in office were marked by a slew of social programs, lifting millions of Brazilians out of poverty and removing the country from the United Nations World Hunger Map. He left office with a record approval rating of 83 percent in 2011, according to Datafolha.