After his first-round victory, Jair Bolsonaro tries to allay fears that Brazil could lurch back towards dictatorship under his command

Brazil needs to be ruled “with authority but without authoritarianism”, the far-right frontrunner to become its next president has declared in an apparent attempt to allay fears of the tyrannical tack many fear Latin America’s largest democracy could take under his command.

In his first television interview since his emphatic first-round victory on Sunday, Jair Bolsonaro, 63, vowed to “pacify and unite the Brazilian people under the green and yellow flag”.

As president, his priorities would be opening Brazil to the world and hitting crime hard “so Brazilian women feel protected”.

“This is how we intend to govern … and build the future of our marvellous country,” the former army captain told Brazil’s Globo network.

Profile Who is Jair Bolsonaro? Show Hide Biography Born in Glicério in São Paulo in 1955 to parents of Italian descent, he served in the army from 1971 until 1988, when he was elected as a city councillor in Rio de Janeiro for the Christian Democratic party. In 1990, he became a federal congressman for the same party. He has since been affiliated with a number of political parties. On 22 July, he was officially nominated as the presidential candidate of the Social Liberal party. Policies Bolsonaro espouses populist and nationalist views that often stray into far-right territory. A vocal opponent of same-sex marriage, abortion, immigration and other progressive causes, he has defended the death penalty and the 1964-85 military dictatorship. On foreign policy, he has said he wants to improve relations with the US. Economically he says he is pro free market and privatisation. Political style Deliberately provocative and polarising. He has praised Gen Pinochet, expressed support for torturers and called for political opponents to be shot, earning him the label of "the most misogynistic, hateful elected official in the democratic world”. In his bid to capitalise on Latin America’s lurch to the right, he paints himself as a tropical Donald Trump: a pro-gun, anti-establishment crusader set on "draining the swamp" and cracking down on violent crime. Controversies On top of repeated calls for a return to dictatorship, he has made equally inflammatory attacks on women, black people, gay people, foreigners and indigenous communities. Earlier this year, he was charged by the attorney general with inciting hate speech. Support and first round victory Bolsonaro has a devout following among some conservative voters, who admire his promises to get tough on rampant violent crime, and won 46% of the vote in the election's first round. Photograph: Evaristo Sa/AFP

During his 27 years in politics, Bolsonaro has repeatedly praised Brazil’s 1964-1985 military regime, and dictators such as Chile’s Augusto Pinochet and Peru’s Alberto Fujimori. His vice-presidential candidate, Hamilton Mourão, is a retired general who last year hinted Brazil’s military leaders had pondered overthrowing the government.

Bolsonaro’s apparent affinity for authoritarians has fuelled fears Brazil could lurch back towards dictatorship under his leadership – something he denied on Monday.

“If we are competing in elections it’s because we believe in the popular vote and will be slaves to our constitution,” Bolsonaro insisted, adding: “What we need is a government with authority but without authoritarianism.”

Interviewed on the same program, Bolsonaro’s second-round rival, the Workers’ party (PT) candidate, Fernando Haddad, positioned himself as a social democrat who wanted development for the many, not the few.

Alluding to concerns over Bolsonaro’s fondness for dictatorship, the leftist warned: “The future of the country is at stake. The future of democracy is at stake. The future of your social rights and workers’ rights is at stake.”

But Haddad – whose election manifesto called for the creation of a constituent assembly – also faced questions over the PT’s own commitment to democracy after a former PT heavyweight proclaimed it was only a matter of time before the party “took power, which is different to winning an election”. “For me, democracy always comes first,” Haddad replied.

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Bolsonaro and Haddad will face off on 28 October in a winner-takes-all showdown with first-round results suggesting the PT candidate has a mountain to climb.

Bolsonaro secured more than 49m votes, topping polls in 16 of Brazil’s 26 states as well as the federal district where the capital Brasília is located.

His most convincing victory was in the southern state of Santa Catarina where 65.82% of voters backed him. But Bolsonaro also triumphed in the key south-eastern states of Rio de Janeiro (59.79%), Minas Gerais (48.31%) and São Paulo (53%) – Brazil’s three biggest electoral prizes with a combined total of 60 million voters.

Bolsonaro – who has pledged to scrap Brazil’s environment ministry, open indigenous reserves to mining and ditch the Paris climate accord – also prevailed in the Amazon states of Roraima, Acre and Rondônia, with more than 62%, and in Mato Grosso, with 60%.

During a visit to the Amazon region in April, Bolsonaro praised Donald Trump’s approval of the Dakota Access and Keystone XL oil pipelines (“No messing around with the environment or the indigenous. Problem sorted!”) and told the Guardian he would take similar steps and target environmental groups operating in Brazil.

“This cowardly business of international NGOs like WWF and so many others from England sticking their noses into Brazil is going to end! This tomfoolery stops right here!” Bolsonaro said. “We’re in Brazil here: Great Brazil just like the Great America of our dear Trump.”

Haddad, who received 31m votes, dominated Brazil’s less developed north-east with more than 60% of votes in the states of Maranhão, Bahia and Piauí.