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The Brazilian Workers' Party replaced former incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Tuesday as a candidate in the October general elections, citing one of the biggest questions regarding the vote of the largest nation in Latin America .
The party confirmed its decision after a meeting of its executive committee in the southern city of Curitiba, where the Silva prison is imprisoned. Fernando Haddad, former mayor of Sao Paulo, will lead the race and will be joined by Manuela D'Avila, a member of the Brazilian Communist Party.
The decision, though long overdue, was a recognition that the party could not get da Silva's participation, which the Brazilians universally call Lula, despite numerous trial attempts.
"The fight is just beginning. Let's go, Haddad! Haddad is Lula! "Said the Twitter account of the Workers' Party. "It was a minister of Lula, a lawyer of Lula and above all: he is a friend of Lula."
The professor of political science, who became Minister of Education and later politician, met Tuesday with da Silva after the decision, then delivered his first speech as a candidate in front of hundreds of supporters in front of the police building. where Da Silva is imprisoned.
"I feel the pain of many Brazilians who will not be able to vote for who they want," said Haddad, alongside D'Avila and other heavyweights of the Workers' Party. "But this is not the time to lower your head."
Da Silva is serving a 12-year sentence for exchanging favors with Grupo OAS construction company for the promise of a beachfront apartment. The former president, who ruled between 2003 and 2010, has always denied wrongdoing, arguing that this case and several others pending against him are intended to keep him out of the poll.
Da Silva led the polls for more than a year, but his candidacy was recently overturned by the country's highest electoral court. The court gave the party until Tuesday to replace da Silva.
In a long letter circulated by the Workers' Party, da Silva recounted what he called "lies and persecutions" that he and his family suffered and urged supporters to vote for Haddad.
"Today and in the future, Fernando Haddad will be Lula for millions of Brazilians," wrote da Silva.
The strategy of keeping da Silva's candidacy until the absolute last minute provoked many internal conflicts within the party. Many thought that leaving Haddad so little time to present his case to voters was risky, while others thought it was best to keep Da Silva as long as possible.
"Haddad and I are like Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez," said Da Silva once, referring to FC Barcelona's football club teammates. "We play together and we do not even have to look at each other to see what the other is doing."
The rival candidates frequently fired on Haddad, attacking the centerpiece of the party's strategy: his dependence on da Silva.
Brazil will have "a small president" if Haddad is elected, leftist candidate Ciro Gomes said last month.
"The workers' party theater is over," Geraldo Alckmin, a right-wing MP, said Tuesday.
Recent polls show that Haddad is far behind, but the party hopes he gets up now with the approval of Da Silva. The current returning officer is far-right MP Jair Bolsonaro, who has always exceeded 20% in a race that puts several candidates at about 10%.
Haddad was Minister of Education under da Silva and his successor, Dilma Rousseff. In 2012, he was elected mayor of Sao Paulo, the most populous city in South America, but was not re-elected four years later.
A Datafolha survey released Monday shows Haddad in fourth place, favored by 9%. It was up five percentage points in a few weeks, but still behind the Golsonaro 24%, the Gomes 13, the 11 centrist Marina Silva and the 10% Alckmin.
The survey had a margin of error of 2 percentage points. The 2,804 voters polled were interviewed on Monday, a few days after da Silva's candidacy was banned by the Electoral Tribunal and Bolsonaro was stabbed in an incident that could lead him to the hospital until the end of the day. polling day.
If no candidate obtains more than 50% on October 7th, a second round will take place on October 28th.
Political science professor Alberto Almeida, who has written several books on Brazilian polls, believes that Haddad has a lot of potential to gain popularity despite the limited time available for his campaign.
"From here next week, it is possible that Haddad is getting big enough to see Marina and Ciro behind him. It was predictable because of Lula's support of about 40 percent in the polls, "said Almeida, adding," The race is now clearer. "
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Follow Mauricio Savarese: twitter.com/MSavarese
Follow Peter Prengaman: twitter.com/peterprengaman
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