World Cup may decide Brazil's next leader

FOR Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, the ongoing Fifa World Cup in her country is more than just a football tournament. Should the month-long event run its course without any major hiccups, and should the host nation eventually go on to lift the famous trophy on July 13, these twin successes could well make the difference in whether Ms Rousseff gets re-elected later this year. Last week, the 66-year-old, the first female president in Brazil's history, was officially endorsed by the governing Workers Party to run for a second four-year term in October. While she has promised to boost social policies and invest more heavily in housing, education and public health, Ms Rousseff still faces a barrage of criticism over the billions of dollars that Brazil has spent on this year's World Cup and the Olympic Games to be held in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

There is still much unhappiness surrounding the organisation of the World Cup, with protesters demanding answers as to how the budget swelled to reach US$11 billion. More than a million people took to the streets last year during the Confederations Cup, a World Cup warm-up event, to argue that the money could have been better spent on improving public services. In the weeks leading up to the tournament, there were more strikes and violent protests. The discontent comes at a time when Brazil's once red-hot economy has slowed down significantly - gross domestic product is expected to grow by just 1.6 per cent in 2014. Ms Rousseff, however, has resolutely maintained that all the investments made in areas such as transport and infrastructure will continue to benefit Brazilians long after the tournament is over.

When the World Cup eventually kicked off on June 12, Ms Rousseff, who was present for the opening ceremony and the first match between Brazil and Croatia, was greeted with boos every time her image was flashed on the big TV screens around the stadium. But for all the criticism hurled at her, it is telling that she still leads her rivals ahead of the Oct 5 election. One poll conducted last week found that 39 per cent of voters support her candidacy, against just 20 per cent for her main opponent Aecio Neves. If no single candidate gets more than 50 per cent of the votes, there will be a run-off on Oct 26.