[ad_1]
CURITIBA, Brazil (Reuters) – Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva jailed on Tuesday will make way for the presidency in next month's elections. the markets pulled down.
The presidential candidate of the Workers' Party, Fernando Haddad, raises his hand to his Vice-presidential candidate, Manuela Avila, in front of the headquarters of the Federal Police, where the former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is incarcerated in Curitiba, Brazil, on September 11, 2018. REUTERS / Rodolfo Buhrer
The National Executive Committee of the Workers Party (PT) had decided that Fernando Haddad would be the presidential candidate in the Oct. 7 vote, said Fernando Pimentel, a member of the committee and governor of the state of Minas Gerais. Lula was prevented by a conviction for corruption.
Lula, the first president of the working class in Brazil and by far his most popular politician despite several corruption trials, hoped that the Supreme Court would accept additional delay.
But Lula finally decided that it was time to pass the baton to Haddad within the deadline set by the court and not run the risk that the votes for the ticket of his party would be annulled by the electoral court.
Two sources aware of Lula's decision said they would be announced on Tuesday in the southern city of Curitiba, where Lula has been jailed since April and sentenced to 12 years in prison for receiving bribes. wine. The sources asked not to be named because they were not allowed to speak publicly.
Lula, who controls the PT that he founded and determines his electoral strategy in his cell, has kept his candidacy alive for as long as possible, hoping to maximize the transfer of votes to Haddad, the former mayor of Sao Paulo barely known. parts of Brazil.
A Datafolha survey conducted on Monday showed that the transfer had begun. Although still one-digit, support for Haddad has risen from 4% to 9%, the biggest gain among the 13 presidential candidates.
The same poll also showed stronger support for another leftist, Ciro Gomes, former governor and finance minister, whose support went from 10% to 13%.
Market favorites who said they would pursue President Michel Temer's economic reforms made little progress.
The Datafolha survey showed Jair Bolsonaro, right-wing candidate on the right, had increased by 2 percentage points to 24%, less than expected after surviving a near-deadly stab last week.
The former mayor of Sao Paulo, Geraldo Alckmin, center-right candidate, got only 1% to 10%.
Monday's poll confirmed that Bolsonaro would have lost to all major candidates in the second round, with the exception of Haddad, with whom he was technically linked.
The possibility of a win on the second round shook the financial markets on Tuesday, as the real currency fell by nearly 2% against the US dollar and the Bovespa stock index lost 2.4% in the aftermath. midday.
"Result: a space in the second round seems guaranteed for Bolsonaro," said Juliano Ferreira, strategist at BGC Liquidez, in a research note. "Once he's there, his chances of losing seem stronger to anyone."
One party official said Lula's letter regarding Haddad would be read to supporters who camped outside the police building for five months to protest his imprisonment, which they see as a plot to stop him from return to power.
Lula was president from 2003 to 2010. He is ineligible under the Brazilian "Clean Slate" law, which prohibits candidates from standing if they have convictions confirmed on appeal.
Report by Lisandra Paraguassú in Curitiba; Additional report by Paula Arend Laier and Claudia Violante in Sao Paulo; Written by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Brad Brooks and Rosalba O & # 39; Brien
