巴西小丑最高票当选国会议员

许多政治人物都爱公开作秀，表演非常夸张，经常会给人感觉像小丑，巴西却选出了一个真正的小丑当国会议员。艺名特里里卡的佛朗西斯科．席尔瓦在3日举行的国会大选中，以全国最高票在巴西最大省圣保罗省脱颖而出，当选国会议员，得票数是第二名的两倍多。更为雷人的是，这位小丑竟然还是个文盲。

45岁的特里里卡8岁开始登台演出，在舞台上扮演小丑，他的典型形象是金发、老土的帽子和一身五彩的衣服，如今是巴西著名电视笑星。他的竞选口号是“我最糟不过就是这样”。 “联邦议员的工作是做什么？说实话，我不知道。不过投我一票，我会让你们知道。”巴西选民对主流政客中的腐败现象痛恨不已，特里里卡的这些口号引发他们的共鸣，因此开始热捧这位笑星。

Voters the world over complain about having clowns for politicians, but Brazilians embraced the idea on Sunday by sending a real one to Congress with more votes than any other candidate.

Francisco Everardo Oliveira Silva, better known by his clown name Tiririca, received more than 1.3 million votes in Sao Paulo state in Brazil's presidential and congressional elections. That was more than double the votes of the second-placed candidate in Brazil's most populous state.

Tiririca caught the attention of disillusioned voters by asking for their support with the humorous slogan: "It can't get any worse" and a promise to do nothing more in Congress than report back to them on how politicians spend their time.

"What does a congressman do? The truth is I don't know, but vote for me and I'll tell you," the 45-year-old said in his campaign advertisements.

The clown, whose stage name means "grumpy," usually appears in public wearing a blond wig, a red hat and a garish outfit. He survived a last-minute attempt by public prosecutors to bar him from running because of evidence that he is illiterate.

His candidacy may not have been as spontaneous or innocent as it might appear.

Tiririca's well-financed campaign will help elect other politicians because under Brazil's election rules he can pass his substantial excess votes on to other candidates in his coalition, which includes the ruling Workers' Party.