According to the research, if the elections were held today, Lula would be elected in the first round, after the former governor of Sao Paulo dropped out of the presidential race. | Photo: Lula Institute

Brasilia, May 31 (RHC)-- According to the research, if the elections were held today, Lula would be elected in the first round, after the former governor of Sao Paulo dropped out of the presidential race.

The leader of the Workers' Party, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, leads the electoral race for the Presidency of Brazil, with 46 percent of voting intentions, according to a new survey by the FSB/BTG research institutes, released this week.

According to the research 8 out of 10 voters would vote for Lula.  Together, the other candidates account for only 13 percent of voting intentions.  Forty-six percent of voters would choose Lula in the first round of elections, which is the best performance of the Brazilian leader in the polls so far.

According to the survey, if the elections were held today, Lula would be elected in the first round and it is new because it is the first one carried out by the companies after the resignation of the former governor of Sao Paulo Joao Doria, who was the pre-candidate of the Brazilian Social Democratic Party (PSDB).

With Doria's departure, Lula increased five percentage points, while current president Jair Bolsonaro appears in second place, with 32 percent, in the main scenario tested, with 11 pre-candidates.

Former minister and former governor of Ceará Ciro Gomes appears in third position, with 9 percent of the voting intention.  If only valid votes are considered, Lula would have 51 percent, which, therefore, would guarantee victory in the first round, as Datafolha had already advanced last Thursday in a separate survey.

The associate director of FSB Research Institute, Marcelo Tokarski, said "contrary to what many imagined, the withdrawal of names of the so-called third way has reinforced the polarization between Lula and Bolsonaro. When Moro left, Bolsonaro grew. Now, with the departure of Doria, it was Lula's turn to gain ground."

The poll itself shows that in a simulation of an eventual second round, Lula appeared 19 points ahead of Jair Bolsonaro.  The PT candidate had 54 percent of voting intentions, against 35 percent for the current Chief Executive.

The survey also revealed that the rejection of President Jair Bolsonaro reached almost 80 percent when it comes to evaluating his government, since 50 percent consider it to be terrible and 29 percent consider it to be fair, coinciding with 60 percent who disapprove of the way in which the president is leading the country.