The three-party alliance made unprecedented inroads in the 2008 general elections but those gains were also attributed to widespread anger over the government's handling of problems such as graft and racial inequality.
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Their opponents argue that the history of race relations in Brazil is very different, and that such policies risk creating new racialproblems.
Ponting, meanwhile, said he had acted on the guidance of the game's governing body, the International Cricket Council, to report any racial incidents following problems with spectators on Australia's tour of India last year.