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Brazil ruling party steady in municipal elections
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's ruling Workers' Party appeared to have held its ground in local elections on Sunday, but did worse than expected in Sao Paulo, the country's largest city.
- Agencies
- Published: 00:43 October 7, 2008
Brasilia: Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's ruling Workers' Party appeared to have held its ground in local elections on Sunday, but did worse than expected in Sao Paulo, the country's largest city.
The Workers' Party, or PT, won mayoral races in six of 27 state capitals and will compete in an October 26 run-off vote in another three state capitals. The PT now governs eight state capitals.
The PT won the northeastern state capitals of Recife and Fortaleza, the southeastern capital of Vitoria, as well as the northern state capitals of Porto Velho, Palmas and Rio Branco.
"We are satisfied. This is our best performance yet [in municipal elections]," Paulo Ferreira, PT Treasurer, told Reuters.
In the financial capital Sao Paulo, Marta Suplicy of the PT won 32.5 per cent of the vote, against the 33.7 per cent of the incumbent mayor, Gilberto Kassab of the conservative DEM party, based on 95 per cent of the ballots counted.
An opinion poll had projected a nine percentage point lead for Suplicy over Kassab in Sao Paulo, a city of 17 million people. Short of the absolute majority, they face a second round.
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