Flávio Bolsonaro takes lead in first round of Brazil election

{"text":[[{"start":9.9,"text":"Flávio Bolsonaro is in pole position to win Brazil’s presidential election after he built a strong lead in the first round of voting on Sunday and comfortably outperformed opinion polls. "}],[{"start":21.65,"text":"Bolsonaro, son of the jailed former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, will go into a run-off vote on October 25 against incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, 80, who is standing for a fourth non-consecutive term. "}],[{"start":35.7,"text":"The rightwing challenger won 47.2 per cent of the vote compared to 44.9 per cent for Lula with nearly all ballots counted."}],[{"start":44.7,"text":"Political analysts believe that Bolsonaro, a 45-year-old senator, has a much greater chance of winning the run-off given that most of the other candidates in the first round come from rightwing parties. "}],[{"start":55.900000000000006,"text":"“We have a government that is rejected and disapproved of by half of the population,” said Mauricio Moura, founder of pollster Instituto Ideia. “I believe Flávio is the favourite. It’s clearly an election of change.”"}],[{"start":68.4,"text":"A Bolsonaro victory would be a boost for US President Donald Trump’s administration, which is pushing to assert greater control over the western hemisphere, including through a much more militarised approach to tackling drug trafficking. "}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":82.05000000000001,"text":"Bolsonaro has made security one of the main themes of his campaign and promised to work much more closely with the US if elected. "}],[{"start":89.95000000000002,"text":"The conservative’s pledges include reducing public spending and a crackdown on organised crime. He also wants to free his father, who is serving a lengthy prison sentence for plotting a coup following a failed re-election bid against Lula four years ago."}],[{"start":106.35000000000002,"text":"William Jackson, chief emerging market economist at Capital Economics, said Sunday’s result would be welcomed by investors, given the possibility of tighter fiscal policy under Bolsonaro and reforms that could lift growth."}],[{"start":119.95000000000002,"text":"“It’s plausible that we see a strong rally in the Brazilian real and the stock market,” he added. “We’re also likely to see further declines in local currency government bond yields in the coming days.”"}],[{"start":133.10000000000002,"text":"Bolsonaro’s lead confounded the expectations of many pollsters, who had predicted a slight advantage for Lula in the first round and a statistical tie in a run-off."}],[{"start":143.10000000000002,"text":"The second round will in effect be a rerun of 2022’s showdown, when Lula defeated the elder Bolsonaro — once dubbed the “Trump of the Tropics” — with the narrowest margin in Brazil’s democratic history. "}],[{"start":156.65000000000003,"text":"Lula has promised extra welfare spending, stronger workers’ rights and environmental protections, as well as deeper links with other so-called “middle power” countries."}],[{"start":173.10000000000002,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1791164510_8916.mp3"}