Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff has let her Defence Minister Nelson Jobim go after he made disparaging remarks about fellow ministers. Jobim reportedly called one fellow minister a "weakling" and described others as "idiots".

Jobim is the third minister to lose his job since Rousseff's inauguration in January. He will be replaced by former foreign minister Celso Amorim. Jobim is one of several ministers who also served under Rousseff's predecessor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

It has been reported in recent weeks that Jobim has been making crude remarks about fellow ministers; he went even further at an opposition event by saying he was surrounded by "idiots".

There has also been speculation that Jobim was disgruntled with Rousseff for overruling him on a multi-billion dollar contract to buy fighter jets. He caused further controversy when he admitted in a television interview that he had voted for Rousseff's opponent Jose Serra in last year's presidential election.

Jobim is the third minister to go since Rousseff took office on 1st January. Last month, her Transport Minister Alfredo Nascimento resigned over a corruption scandal and in June her chief of staff, Antonio Palocci, stepped down in the face of questions about his rapid accumulation of personal wealth.

Sources: BBC News, Reuters, The Guardian

For more news and expert analysis about Brazil, please see Brazil Focus.

Rousseff sworn into office

Dilma Rousseff has been sworn into office as Brazil's first female president. An estimated 70,000 people gathered for the inauguration ceremony in the country's capital, Brasilia.

Rousseff has taken over from President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva who left office after two terms. Shortly after the official inauguration ceremony, Rousseff spoke to the nation and pledged to protect the most vulnerable and govern for the benefit of all. In a speech addressing the country, she also made clear that she was aware of the key problems faced by Brazil and assured that she would fulfil her promise of "consolidating the achievements" of her mentor, former president Lula.

Brazil's economy, currently enjoying a boom, inspires confidence in the country's future but Brazil still remains one of the main countries with the most unequal distribution of wealth.

Rousseff, who was appointed as energy minister in President Lula's government in 2003, later served as his chief of staff until 2010. Elected in October 2010, defeating opposition candidate Jose Serra by 56 per cent to 44 per cent in the second round, Rousseff said that her time in office was "just the beginning of a new era."

Sources: Radio Free Europe, Wall Street Journal, BBC News, Al Jazeera

For more news and expert analysis about Brazil, please see Brazil Focus.

Brazil's presidential elections will go to second round

The Brazilian presidential elections will go to second round as Dilma Rousseff has failed to get 50 per cent of the votes required to secure an outright victory. As it currently stands Rousseff has 47 per cent of the votes, while Jose Serra has secured 33 per cent. The two will contest a run-off vote in four weeks' time.

It is believed that a strong result by the Green Party candidate, Marina Silva, who polled 19 per cent, may have hindered Rousseff's chances for a first-round win. President Lula's former cabinet chief, is the favoured successor to the President, who has completed two terms and cannot run for a third.

"We are warriors, and we are accustomed to challenges... We do well in second rounds," Rousseff said in a speech in Brasilia after the result was announced.

Dilma Rousseff was the front runner for much of the campaign, helped by Lula's support and widespread popularity. However, analysts believe that recent allegations of corruption may hinder her chances in the runoff.

Source: BBC News

For more news and expert analysis about Brazil, please see Brazil Focus.

Brazil: pre-election Sunday

Brazil is feverishly gearing up for the elections, which will be held in three weeks time on Sunday 3rd October. On that day the Presidency of the Republic, all 513 Chamber of Deputies seats, and 54 of the 81 Federal Senate seats will be contested, as well the governorships and state legislatures off all 26 states plus the Federal District of Brasilia. If necessary a second round will be held on 31st October, in case the candidate for either President or Governor fails to win more than half of the valid votes.

Brazilian elections are almost ideology-free and have a lot more to do with the individual candidates than with the party they represent. Indeed, the majority of the voters quickly forget which party a candidate stood for because so many of them tend to switch parties as soon as they are elected. Brazilian elections – particularly for the Chamber of Deputies – tend to be won by the more charismatic and popular candidates. This is because the sheer scale of the country, and its 100 million dispersed voters, means that television and advertising are essential for a successful campaign. Because campaigns tend to be expensive fundraising is vital for most candidates.

Hundreds of poor working-class Brazilians are paid to support a particular campaign. While the middle class supporters are more laid back, the poor cluster in groups of 5-10 waving flags and drawing attention to the mobile posters of their designated candidate. Each flag or poster has the candidate’s photograph and name, and a unique number. Therefore, for example, Dilma Rousseff - who is standing for the ruling PT as President Lula’s successor - is 13 while her main opponent Jose Serra is 45. For the much more junior Chamber of Deputies candidates it is a five figure number of which the first identifies the party - so all PT candidates begin with the number 1, the democrats of the DEM with the number 2; PSDB with 4, and so on.

The advantage of this numerical system is that all the voters – many of whom in the rural areas are still illiterate - are able to select their chosen candidate by their number. And then a few hours later – because of the miracle of Brazil’s very sophisticated electronic voting system which uses solar power in the remote Amazon so every vote can be counted and transmitted to the electoral authorities – everyone in Brazil will know if, as expected, Dilma has romped to victory in the presidential contest, and who of the thousands of local candidates has been elected to office.

For more news and expert analysis about Brazil, please see Brazil Focus.

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