Lula’s chosen heir falls short of clear victory in Brazil

A former chief of the Brazilian cabinet failed today in her bid to become the country's first woman president.

Dilma Rousseff narrowly missed winning an outright majority and now faces a runoff in four weeks against her rival Jose Serra.

Ms Rousseff, the preferred successor of the current president, the popular Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, took 46.9 per cent of the vote but needed 50 per cent for victory. Mr Serra polled 32.6 per cent.

The Green Party's Marina Silva won a surprising 19.4 per cent of the vote and analysts said her strong showing may have thrown Ms Rousseff off course. Ms Silva said her party's leadership would now decide which candidate to support in the run-off .

Ms Rousseff, a former Marxist militant who was imprisoned for three years and tortured under Brazil's military dictatorship, long ago left behind her rebel background and has made a career as a pragmatic bureaucrat, most recently as Mr da Silva's chief of staff.

The president enjoys approval ratings of nearly 80 per cent and he has transferred much of that popularity to Ms Rousseff.

Mr da Silva, who cannot run for a third term, was also forced into second-round votes in his 2002 and 2006 victories. Ms Rousseff told supporters in Brasilia: "We are used to challenges. Traditionally, we have fared well in the second round."

"A second round is a whole new ball game. Everything starts from zero," said Alexandre Barros, of the Early Warning political risk group in Brasilia. "I would say Dilma has a strong chance of winning a second round."

Fred Vani, a 25-year-old businessman in Sao Paulo, said he wanted change. "With Dilma winning, I don't see a lot changing in the country, it will be more of the same, and that's not good enough," he said. "We need the next president working hard on structural reforms, especially the tax reform. We need something different from what we have now."

But mechanic Marcelo Gusmao, 32, said Mr da Silva had done much for the poor and that Ms Rousseff would continue that work. "I voted for Dilma because she will give continuity to what Lula has done in eight years — reducing poverty and improving the economy."