Lula returns to the assault of the presidency of Brazil
The former president, veteran of the Brazilian left, promises to unite “all democrats” to “rebuild” the country after the four years of Jair Bolsonaro.
Published: 07.05.2022, 22:01
Former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced his candidacy for the Brazilian presidential election this Saturday, May 7.
KEYSTONE
The veteran of the Brazilian left, Lula, threw himself into the presidential campaign on Saturday, promising to unite “all democrats” to “rebuild” the country after four years of “irresponsible and criminal” management by Jair Bolsonaro.
“We want to unite democrats of all origins, political colors, social classes and religious beliefs,” said Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, 76, announcing his candidacy for the October ballot in front of 4,000 supporters in Sao Paulo.
“We must build an increasingly broad movement of all parties, organizations and people of good will” to “defeat the totalitarian threat, hatred, violence and discrimination that weighs” on Brazil, he said. said, without ever pronouncing the name of far-right president Jair Bolsonaro.
Lula’s presidential candidacy – his sixth – marks a remarkable political comeback for this former president (2003-2010) who many believed was over when he was imprisoned for corruption just two and a half years ago. Then the Supreme Court overturned his convictions in 2021.
But twelve years after leaving power with a stratospheric approval rating (87%), the leader of the Workers’ Party (PT) is seeking a third term.
Lula is the only one who can beat at the polls a Jair Bolsonaro (67) whom he distances in all the polls. No candidate today embodies a third way in this very polarized country of 213 million inhabitants.
“Democracy or totalitarianism”
“We are going to prove that Brazil can be a country that returns to growth and generates jobs”, launched the former trade unionist, in front of the crowd which cheered him to cries of “Lula, warrior of the Brazilian people”.
Lula spoke for just under an hour in front of a huge Brazilian flag, a symbol that the Bolsonarists have appropriated.
He wanted to “restore the sovereignty” of the country, in the face of “the irresponsible and criminal policy of the government” of Bolsonaro which “is destroying everything we have done.
But the tribune Lula who usually inflames the crowds with great flights was unrecognizable. Navy suit and open shirt collar, he contented himself with reading his speech wisely. Apparently at the request of his advisers who are very worried about his recent slippages.
The ex-president made controversial statements on abortion, the police or on the middle classes.
In an interview with Time magazine this week, he attacked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, “who puts on a show” and is “as responsible” for the war in his country as his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
“Lula is the only hope left in Brazil”, declared during the meeting the candidate for the vice-presidency that Lula chose himself, Geraldo Alckmin, by videoconference after being contaminated by the covid.
The former center-right governor of Sao Paulo must reassure voters from the center, the moderate right, and business circles.
“Lula was the best president in this country,” said Odilon da Silva Freire, a 63-year-old retiree, present at the convention center. “He had governed for all, and especially the underprivileged. The people are tired of suffering”.
Lula’s social policies had lifted 30 million Brazilians out of poverty, but at a time of strong growth induced by soaring commodity prices.
“As close as possible to voters”
The campaign does not officially start until August 16, but Lula will begin next week to criss-cross this immense country where he is as much adored as hated by those for whom he embodies corruption.
“If he really wants to win the election, Lula must go to the streets, like Bolsonaro, be closer to the voters,” Sylvio Costa, founder of the Congresso em foco site, told AFP.
The ex-president, whose banishment from the race in 2018 because of his legal setbacks had allowed the easy election of Bolsonaro, assured not to be animated by a desire for revenge.
And he delighted campaigners by announcing that he would this month marry his campaign ‘Janja’, a 55-year-old sociologist.
Published: 07.05.2022, 22:01
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