Beaten Silva Bides Time on Brazil Presidential Endorsement
Environmentalist Marina Silva, eliminated from Brazil's presidential election after placing third Sunday, did not reveal who she would endorse in the October 26 runoff.
Although most Brazilians say they want change after 12 years of rule by the Workers Party (PT) of incumbent Dilma Rousseff, the president topped the poll, going forward to a second round against Social Democrat Aecio Neves.
Silva led second-round poll projections for several weeks only to lose momentum in the final days of the campaign and slip behind Neves, who scored 33.61 percent against just 21.3 percent for Silva after nearly all votes were counted.
Rousseff garnered 41.55 percent to position herself as favorite for a second term unless Silva's supporters now throw their weight behind Neves, the business world's favorite and grandson of a former president.
But although Neves urged the 56-year-old Silva to transfer her support to him and "join forces" to oust Rousseff she did not promise to do so, saying her party would first discuss strategy on the back of her defeat.
"Brazil has clearly signaled it is not for the status quo," Silva told a news conference in Sao Paulo.
"We have time -- though we must take into account the sense of urgency" that voters have in seeing their political future resolved, she added.
A former PT colleague of Rousseff, Silva served as environment minister between 2003 and 2008.
Source: Agence France Presse
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