Lula Pulls 6 Points Ahead in Brazil's Opinion Polls

Brazil's former President Luiz Ignacio “Lula” da Silva has gained six more percentage points in the opinion polls for the 2018 presidential elections.

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Between the months of July — when federal judge Sergio Moro sentenced Lula to a controversial 9 and a half prison sentence over corruption charges — and August, the founder of the Workers' Party's lead jumped from 26 to 32 percent, according to a survey by the polling Institute DataPoder360.

The former president was projected ahead in a presidential race against the Social-Christian Party's candidate Jair Bolsonaro.

Brazil's Social Democrat candidate, Geraldo Alckim, the current governor of Sao Paulo and the city's  mayor Joao Doria —  both polled in third and fourth position with 4 and 12 percent repectively.

According to daily online Brasil 247, Lula's standing in the polls would benefit from the perception that the judicial procedures filed against him are politically motivated.

Both he, his lawyers and his supporters, have repeatedly argued that the accusations against him are fabricated and part of a campaign to prevent him running again for president in the elections.

In July, Lula was found guilty of accepting bribes from the engineering firm OAS in the form of a beachfront apartment in Guaruja.

The judge said the apartment was worth a total of US$691,000, including an extensive renovation undertaken to Lula and his late wife Marisa Leticia's specifications.

Lula's defense team have presented a number of documents they say prove that the property is owned by OAS and has never been owned by Lula or any of his relatives.