MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Soap opera and politics in Sao Paulo's Mayor race

The race for mayor of South America's largest city Sao Paulo to be decided in a runoff Sunday, has taken on elements of a steamy Brazilian soap-opera, including complex romantic alliances, flowing tears and police raids on cockfights

In the main star role is the current mayor Marta Suplicy, 59, who is seeking re-election and belongs to President Lula da Silva's ruling Workers' Party. Ms. Suplicy opponent is Jose Serra from the centre-right Party of Brazilian Social Democracy who defeated her in the first round last October 3 and opinion polls show him winning in Sunday's runoff by at least 10 points.

But besides adverse numbers there's the soap opera side where the current mayor seems to be loosing ground. Journalist Monica Dallari, the girlfriend of Suplicy's former husband Senator Eduardo Suplicy, in a recent interview harshly criticized the incumbent mayor, her current husband and campaign staff.

"If she loses, I think it will have been because of a misguided campaign and also due to some the stances she took during her administration which gave her an air of arrogance" Ms. Dallari said in the latest edition of the weekly magazine Veja.

She also added that the mayor's current husband, Luis Favre, "loses in every comparison, especially (in terms of) physical (stature) and personality" with Senator Suplicy, one of the most popular figures in the Workers' Party.

The Suplicys' divorce three years ago was traumatic for the Workers Party, PT. However the incumbent's campaign team and the PT interpreted Dallari's statements as a shocking and untimely revenge strategy on the part of Senator Suplicy, who is said to be bitter over the end of the couple's 36-year marriage.

The breakup of Marta and Eduardo, the PT's "glamour" couple, was triggered by Favre's entry onto the scene. Mrs. Suplicy allegedly fell in love with the Argentine-French citizen when he joined her first campaign for Sao Paolo mayor.

The senator, who has contributed to his former wife's re-election campaign, denied that his girlfriend's recent comments were politically motivated.

A visibly angry Mayor Suplicy, meanwhile, recently asked a reporter to respect her "right to not comment on that interview". Ms. Suplicy says she is confident of winning on Sunday but, broke down in tears during a campaign stop last weekend, claiming she felt hounded by the press.

"The prejudice and persecution I have felt from all the media is incredible" said Mrs. Suplicy in tears adding that "it's very difficult to endure this persecution".

Things got worse for the mayor last Friday when one of her top campaign advisers, Duda Mendonca, was arrested during several hours after Rio de Janeiro police raided a cockfight, a prohibited activity in Brazil. Mr. Mendonca who was released on bail, faces several charges related to his alleged involvement with the blood sport.

The mayor quickly disassociated herself from the incident, saying in a statement that the consultant's hobbies are not her affair: ""The arrest comes as a shock; (it's) his own personal problem. He's already back with the campaign" she said.

But Mr. Serra's team sees Mendonca's willingness to make time for leisure activities - and illegal ones at that - in the final days of the campaign as a sure sign he's not at all convinced of Ms. Suplicy's re-election bid which could mean a stunning blow for the administration of President Lula da Silva