Presidential in Brazil: Lula's last fight?
Former President of Brazil and current presidential candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of the Workers' Party during a presidential debate in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, September 29, 2022. AP - Bruna Prado
Text by: RFI Follow
3 mins
Lula fears unrest after the elections in Brazil.
The 1st round takes place this Sunday, October 2, and the outgoing president threatens not to respect the verdict of the polls.
Lula is well ahead in the polls, after crossing the desert and even a stint in prison.
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With our correspondent in Sao Paulo,
Martin Bernard
Lula is a real political animal.
After being sentenced to eight years in prison for
corruption in the case of the public company Petrobras
, he was unable to stand in the last elections.
He then spent 18 months in detention.
And then, a dramatic turn of events, justice cancels his convictions for formal defect, and accuses the judge who had condemned him of partiality.
Released two years ago, Lula naturally took over the leadership of the opposition to President Bolsonaro.
He formed a grand coalition of ten parties, ranging from the far left to the center right.
His candidacy received the support of several former presidential candidates, such as the ecologist Marina Silva, magistrates, intellectuals, and many artists, such as Caetano Veloso.
At 76, Lula is running for the presidency for the sixth time.
This may be his last fight.
► To read also:
Brazil: a difficult economic situation for the next president
A rapprochement with the center?
The ex-president could win the elections in the first round if he manages to mobilize the undecided and the voters who belong to the most disadvantaged social strata.
But even if he wins the election, he still has to form a coalition of parties in Congress that allows him to govern.
Lula should therefore logically approach the center parties, which today support Jair Bolsonaro.
How does he plan to go about it?
He responded to it on Friday, September 30 during a press conference attended by
Achim Lippold,
special correspondent for RFI.
"
The center is not a political center.
The center is a group of parties which have very diverse political interests with which it is necessary to discuss and find agreements of circumstances.
The problem is that before there were party leaders with whom we could discuss, find an agreement, and set up a coalition.
Today, a party leader no longer has any power.
We have to discuss with the deputies who are at the same time party leaders in the regions.
So you have to negotiate with the parties at the regional level, in the states.
It's a big bargaining mess, because partisan discipline has disappeared.
So it is for this reason that I defend strong parties with a strong leader.
So that we can sit around the table, discuss and conclude a coalition agreement to govern.
Otherwise,
you become a prisoner of Congress.
And no one can govern in a stable way, while being a prisoner of Congress.
»
► Also to listen:
Presidential in Brazil: a country cut in two
♦ Report in the most bolsonarist district of Sao Paulo
For now, Lula leads the voting intentions in the state of Sao Paulo, the most important electoral college, a state that Jair Bolsonaro won hands down four years ago.
In Itaim Bibi, a chic neighborhood in the south of Sao Paulo, the social crisis in the country seems to be very far away.
This is the district of banks and posh vegetarian restaurants.
One of its restaurants belongs to Elisabeth.
Like more than 80 percent of Brazilians, she has already made her choice: it will not be Lula.
“Because of his past.
It's not fair for someone who carries that corrupt past to show up again.
So me, vote for a thief?
Never !
» ...
Report in the most bolsonarist district of Sao Paulo
Achim Lippold
Presidential in Brazil in 4 points
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Brazil
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva
Jair Bolsonaro