Brasilia - The Brazilian President, Mr Fernando Henrique Cardoso's bid to win a second term in elections yesterday was left hanging by a thread as preliminary results showed him with just enough votes to avoid a run-off.
Mr Cardoso was hoping to win the election outright to turn his attention fully to a deep economic crisis and speed up negotiations over financial support with the International Monetary Fund. But after 16.3 per cent of ballots were counted by the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE), Mr Cardoso had 50.9 per cent of valid votes, just 0.9 of a percentage point more than the majority he needs to avoid a second round of voting on October 25th.
The left-wing challenger, Mr Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, had 34.4 per cent while the former finance minister, Mr Ciro Gomes was on 11.5 per cent, the TSE said in a statement. An independent exit poll announced on national television earlier showed Mr Cardoso further ahead with 56 per cent of the vote, Mr Lula on 29 per cent and Mr Gomes with 11 per cent.
A TSE spokesman said the official numbers so far in were from electronic voting booths in big cities, where voters are generally more critical of Mr Cardoso.