Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told his allies that he aspires to represent a coalition of seven center-left parties in his challenge to current president Jair Bolsonaro in elections next October.
Former metallurgical leader who is leading the presidential race, Lula has filled his agenda with party congresses to cement that coalition, including events with the Brazilian Socialist Party and the Sustainability Network (Rede).
“To those who have not yet joined us, our arms are open to receive all those who want to recover this country,” he told reporters in a meeting with Rede.
Senator Randolfe Rodrigues promised the Network’s support for Lula’s candidacy, but the party’s founder, Marina Silva, Lula’s former environment minister, was absent.
Silva left the Lula government and ran against his Workers’ Party (PT) in three close presidential elections.
On the other hand, the former president celebrated the conclusions of a committee of the United Nations Organization on Human Rights (UN-DH) that determined that the corruption case that imprisoned him and blocked his presidential candidacy in 2018 violated due process. He called the ruling “extraordinary cleanliness of soul.”
Lula maintains a double-digit distance over his opponent Bolsonaro in the simulations of a probable second round.
Some parties are maneuvering to present their own candidates but could still support Lula in the second round, such as the Social Democratic Party and some factions of the Brazilian Democratic Movement.
