Shaken by the world’s second-deadliest COVID-19 outbreak and deep economic crisis, Brazilians on Sunday voted for experienced politicians from traditional parties in local elections, a move that may damage reelection hopes for Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
Candidates backed by the populist president, who presents himself as an outsider, were knocked out of the running in the country’s largest city, Sao Paulo, and other municipal races in state capitals.
In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil’s second-largest city, former mayor Eduardo Paes led the election and is to face incumbent mayor, evangelical bishop Marcelo Crivella, in a runoff in two weeks.
Photo: EPA-EFE
In Salvador, the fourth-largest city, voters elected Bruno Reis of the Democrats Party (DEM), which won mayoral races in Curitiba and Florianopolis, and is favored to win Rio with Paes.
In Belo Horizonte, the sixth-largest city, voters re-elected Alexandre Kalil, who took tough quarantine and social distancing steps that were criticized by Bolsonaro, who has repeatedly downplayed the gravity of COVID-19.
“The pandemic has put the brakes on the trend towards anti-politics and rejection of traditional parties for being corrupt,” said Creomar de Souza, head of Brasilia-based consultancy Dharma Political Risk and Strategy.
Photo: Bloomberg
“Voters understood that the politicians elected with Bolsonaro in 2018 are flawed and they want to see public services improve,” he added.
The results are a setback for Bolsonaro and indicate that the wave of anti-establishment sentiment that got him elected in 2018 following the widespread political corruption uncovered by the Car Wash graft investigation may have subsided.
As voters look to traditional parties, such as the DEM and the Brazilian Social Democratic Party, which is leading the race for Sao Paulo mayor, Bolsonaro appears vulnerable because he has no party.
The Social Liberal Party he joined for his presidential campaign and later fell out with was nowhere to be seen in major city races on Sunday, despite having surged two years ago to become the second-largest in congress.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
‘DELUSIONAL’: Targeting the families of Hamas’ leaders would not push the group to change its position or to give up its demands for Palestinians, Ismail Haniyeh said Israeli aircraft on Wednesday killed three sons of Hamas’ top political leader in the Gaza Strip, striking high-stakes targets at a time when Israel is holding delicate ceasefire negotiations with the militant group. Hamas said four of the leader’s grandchildren were also killed. Ismail Haniyeh’s sons are among the highest-profile figures to be killed in the war so far. Israel said they were Hamas operatives, and Haniyeh accused Israel of acting in “the spirit of revenge and murder.” The deaths threatened to strain the internationally mediated ceasefire talks, which appeared to gain steam in recent days even as the sides remain far
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of