Dilma Rousseff Brazil, after securing more than 51% of votes in the closest election race since 1989. An official count showed her rival, center-right candidate Aécio Neves, taking just over 48% of the vote. According to Bulgarian media, Bulgaria experienced "Dilma fever." The local media followed the presidential race in Brazil closely, interested in the election of a half-Bulgarian to rule over the world's 5th most populous nation and 7th largest economy. In an interview for the "24 Hours" newspaper, Rousseff said that she "feel[s] tenderness and love for Bulgaria. I can even say that to a certain extent I do feel
Opinion polling for the 2010 Brazilian presidential election candidates receives more than a half of the valid votes, a run-off is held four weeks after the first round. The leading candidate, Dilma Rousseff, received 46.9% of the first-round vote, thereby making a second round necessary. In the election, Brazilian citizens eligible to vote chose their successor to then-President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, of the democratic socialist/social democratic Workers' Party. According to the Constitution, the President is elected directly to a four-year term, with a limit of two terms. Lula was hence ineligible for a third term, since he was elected in 2002 and re-elected in 2006. The