Brazil votes in presidential run-off

Jose Serra says he has a chance against "Lula"

Brazilians are going to the polls on Sunday, in the second round of a presidential election pitting left-wing candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva against the ruling party's Jose Serra.

"Lula" - as he is known in Brazil - is the clear favourite, with opinion polls giving him more than 60% of the vote.

Most Brazilian voters are relaxed about Lula

A former factory worker who founded the Workers Party, Lula, 57, has recently moved closer to the political centre and dropped the anti-capitalist rhetoric that marked his three previous presidential bids.

Mr Serra insists he can still defy predictions and win.

Humble origins

Lula campaigned on a platform of profound social change in a country where poverty is widespread. But he has also sought to reach out to the financial community, who initially reacted negatively to his candidacy.

Lula in more radical, scruffier days

Correspondents say his choice of industrialist Jose Alencar of the centre-right Liberal Party as a running mate sent a strong message to the Brazilian business community, which has gradually warmed to the former trade unionist.

Lula - who campaigned in 1989 on a promise to default - is now saying financial agreements would be respected and monetary stability maintained.

Even his appearance is more polished: he is wearing suits, has trimmed his beard, and had his teeth redone for a more photogenic look.

Lula was born of impoverished parents in the depressed north east of Brazil.

He got his first job as a metal worker at the age of 14. A trade unionist and strike leader, he came to symbolise opposition to the military dictatorship in the 1970s and early 1980s.

He founded the Worker's Party in 1980.

Track record

Jose Serra, for his part, is trailing badly in the polls. With about 34%, his support is just over half that of his rival.

Electronic voting machines are ready

The BBC's Peter Greste in Sao Paulo says that from the outset, Mr Serra had everything to lose in this election - official government support, administrative brilliance, a wealth of experience and widespread backing from the business elite.

But, our correspondent adds, with a country apparently fed up with the status quo and ripe for change, it has been a perception that seems to have worked against him and his grey demeanour has not helped.

Even Mr Serra has acknowledged as much, joking at the beginning of the campaign that at least his mother would vote for him.

He is stressing his background inside government.

The magazine of the World Economic Forum, Worldlink, once named him as the world's best health minister for his successful campaigns that forced drug companies to provide lower-cost AIDS medicines and tobacco firms to adhere to strict rules for advertising cigarettes.

But his critics have accused him of botching the election campaign by using aggressive tactics that seem to have divided even his own natural supporters.