巴西将选举产生新总统

Brazilians will vote on Sunday to choose a new president to succeed Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

本周日巴西将选举一位新总统接替路易斯·伊纳西奥·卢拉·达席尔瓦的位置。

The two candidates faced each other in a final televised debate on Friday

Opinion polls（民意测验） suggest the governing Workers Party candidate Dilma Rousseff has a clear lead over Jose Serra of the opposition¹ Social Democratic Party.

Ms Rousseff has enjoyed the full support of President Lula, who is leaving office after two terms with record popularity ratings.

If she wins she will become Brazil's first woman president.

Polls open at 1000GMT and close at 2000GMT.

Brazil uses an electronic voting system, and final results are expected within hours of the polls closing.

This second round of voting was forced after Ms Rousseff fell short of the 50% needed in the 3 October first round. She won 47% to Mr Serra's 33%.

Tough campaign

The rival candidates both held their final campaign rallies on Saturday in Belo Horizonte in Minas Gerais, which is seen as a key swing state.

With a lead of more than 10 points in opinion polls, Ms Rousseff exuded²（散发，渗出） confidence as she toured the city in an open-topped car.

"I will govern for all Brazilians. There will be no discrimination of parties. I will not govern only for my coalition³", she said.

Across town, Mr Serra insisted he was still very much in the race（有成功的可能） .

"The real opinion poll is the ballot⁴ box," he said, urging his supporters to keep fighting for every last vote.

The BBC's Paulo Cabral in Sao Paulo says Mr Serra has done better than many people expected in a campaign filled with personal attacks and corruption⁵ allegations.

But our correspondent says it has been an uphill（上坡的，向上的） struggle to take votes away from a government boasting 80% approval ratings.

The key factor will be how some 20 million Brazilians who backed the Green Party's Marina Silva in the first round will vote.

Ms Silva has not endorsed⁶（支持，赞同） any candidate.

Jose Serra, 68, is a former governor of Sao Paulo, Brazil's most populous⁷ state, and a former health minister.

Campaigning under the slogan "Brazil can do more", he has promised better management of government rather than a radical⁸ change of policy.

Ms Rousseff, 62, President Lula's former chief of staff, has never before run for elected office.

She has promised to continue policies that have helped bring years of strong economic growth.

Mr Lula has been active and highly visible in her election campaign. He has to step down after completing the maximum allowed two consecutive⁹（连贯的） terms.