An opinion poll published on Tuesday showed that Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had retained a lead among competitors in the upcoming presidential election, despite a scandal over his alleged role in smearing an opposition politician.

The poll, conducted by the CNT/Sensus research institute from Sept. 22 to 24, showed that 51.1 percent of people surveyed supported Lula's re-election bid.

His closest contender, Social Democratic Party candidate Geraldo Alckmin, received 27.5 percent of the vote, an increase of 7.9 percentage points compared with the outcome of another poll by the same institute in late August.

As the incumbent candidate's votes outnumber the total votes for the other candidates combined, the poll showed that President Lula was set to be reelected in the first round of voting on Oct. 1. In the case of a runoff, he would also win the election by netting 55.5 percent of the vote, while Alckmin would get 33.7 percent.

By law, a candidate has to gain more than 50 percent of the valid vote for an outright victory in the Oct. 1 presidential election.

The survey, which interviewed 2,000 people in 195 towns, showed that Lula's approval rate had witnessed a slight slip after the scandal emerged last week. The president has replaced his campaign manager and a security aide in a bid to defend himself.

Only 3.2 percent of those interviewed said they would give up their support for Lula due to the scandal, and 41 percent even refused to believe Lula's involvement.

The country's Supreme Electoral Tribunal has launched an investigation into the scandal.

If the president is found guilty, he, together with his running partner, Vice President Jose Alencar, will be barred from standing in the election, according to an earlier statement on the court's website.

However, the investigation is unlikely to be closed before the poll. If Lula is re-elected but later found guilty, he could still lose his presidency, making the runner-up in the election the Brazilian president.

Source: Xinhua