Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a leftist, has begun his presidential campaign against far-right President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil. Lula urged Brazilians to rally behind him in order to safeguard the country’s democracy from the authoritarian administration, accusing his opponent of continually attempting to conceal his ineptitude from the people.
According to Lula, ‘The most serious moment the country is going through forces us to overcome our differences and build an alternative path to the incompetence and authoritarianism that govern us’. The charismatic but tarnished steelworker-turned-politician told a rally in Sao Paulo that Bolsonaro’s administration is ‘irresponsible and criminal.’
‘We want to join Democrats of all political stripes, classes, races, and religious beliefs… to combat the totalitarian danger, hatred, violence, and prejudice that hangs over our country,’ he continued. Lula departed office with a popularity rating of 87% after presiding over a golden time that brought nearly 30 million Brazilians out of poverty. Even though campaigning for Brazil’s presidential race does not begin until August, Lula can give arch-enemy Bolsonaro a run for his money in the polarising contest.
He was barred from running for president in 2018 after being convicted on corruption charges in the ‘Operation Car Wash’ probe, which focused on the state-run oil firm Petrobras. Despite calling the case a conspiracy, Lula was imprisoned from April 2018 to November 2019 on bribery allegations. The Supreme Court, however, overturned corruption accusations against Lula that had kept him out of office in March of last year.
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