Haddad tries the impossible comeback. That a candidate who took home 46,2% of the votes in the first round, as happened to the right-wing extremist Jair Bolsonaro in the presidential elections in Brazil, then loses the ballot is a rather remote hypothesis, especially if one consider the wind that is blowing, even in South America, in favor of the more populist solutions. But this time it could happen: according to the latest polls, Lula's henchman and former mayor of Sao Paulo, Fernando Haddad, who came close to 30% in the first round, still stopping almost 17 points behind Bolsonaro, would be making a comeback. In the voting intentions for the second round of October 28, the exponent of the PT (Workers' Party) records a leap to 36%, while the rival is confirmed to grow slightly at around 49%. The sum does not add up to 100 because there are all the undecided and abstentions in the first round: about 15-20% of voters who still need to be convinced and who could – and how – make a difference, consolidating Bolsonaro's announced triumph or instead pushing Haddad in the sensational recovery.
The challenge is now open. Some of Bolsonaro's intentions are starting to scare a part of the electorate, especially those that refer to nostalgia for a military dictatorship. In addition, the economic guru of the "Messiah", the economist Paulo Guedes, indicated as the future finance minister or governor of the Brazilian central bank, ended up at the center of an investigation for speculation on state pension funds. Not a small amount of money, also because Bolsonaro was running as the clean face, which would have allowed the South American country to leave the Lava Jato judicial scandals behind for good. Haddad for his part can try to persuade, in addition to the hard core of the electorate loyal to Lula who will certainly confirm his consent, even a band of moderate voters, so to speak of the centre-left. In fact, the university professor has a different profile from that of the former trade unionist and former president, and could prove the lie to those who think – rightly or wrongly – that with the PT still in power, Brazil would risk becoming like Maduro's Venezuela.
Meanwhile, the Stock Exchange, which had reacted euphorically to the Bolsonaro victory in the first round, begins to waver after the statements of the far-right candidate, who now no longer wants to speed up the pension reform and who has also slowed down on some privatisations.
