The presidential election in Brazil will take place in October, and will see incumbent far-right president Jair Bolsonaro face a figure from the Brazilian left, Lula. The latter officially launched his campaign this Saturday, May 7 in São Paulo.
Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced this Saturday, May 7, 2022 that he was going to “return to combat” to run for a third term in the October election in order to “rebuild” the country, after the “irresponsible and criminal” management of Jair Bolsonaro.
“We are all ready to work not only for victory on October 2, but for the reconstruction and transformation of Brazil, which will be more difficult than victory in the election,” Lula, 76, said during a a campaign launch meeting in front of 4,000 supporters in Sao Paulo.
The former president from 2003 to 2010, from the Workers’ Party (PT), signs his great political comeback after turbulent years.
He had notably been accused of corruption and imprisoned for more than a year, before being cleared by the courts. He has since multiplied political trips across Brazil but also internationally, and does not fail to criticize the record of his main competitor, Jair Bolsonaro.
Gathering of the Brazilian Left
Nearly ten years after his first election, Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva, whose real name is, gave a speech at a rally in São Paulo, the economic capital of Brazil, in the company of leaders of various left and center parties. left: the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB), the Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB), the Socialism and Freedom Party (PSOL), or even the Ecologist Party (PV). Together, with the workers’ party, they launched the “Movimiento Vamos juntos pelo Brasil” (“Let’s go together for Brazil movement”, in French).
Está chegando o grande dia! É neste sábado o launchmento do movimento Vamos Juntos Pelo Brasil. Acompanhe em nossas redes oficiais. #VamosJuntosPeloBrasil pic.twitter.com/GFmsMgOvol
—Lula (@LulaOficial) May 5, 2022
A former worker, Lula was himself one of the main spokespersons for the Brazilian metalworking union at the start of his political career.
The centrist Geraldo Alckmin, former head of government of the state of São Paulo, was chosen by Lula as vice-president, a sign of an alliance between the PT and the PSB to allow Lula to govern in the event of victory. “We need Alckmin’s experience and mine to get Brazil back on its feet,” Lula said in early April at a press conference.
If since Lula’s return to the political scene, observers already give him the big winner of the election, the gap is closing between him and Jair Bolsonaro. In December, the Datafolha institute gave Lula the lead in the first round with 46% of the vote, against 22% for the outgoing president. At the end of April, a PoderData poll, however, only gave Jair Bolsonaro more than five points (36%) behind Lula (41%).