Four years ago, right-wing populist Bolsonaro and left-wing former President Lula avoided each other. Because Lula was sentenced to prison, he could not take part in the election. This time both meet and according to polls it can be tight for incumbent Bolsonaro.
In Brazil, the presidential election at the beginning of October saw a duel between right-wing populist incumbent Jair Bolsonaro and left-wing ex-president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro, 67, was officially named the Liberal Party's candidate on Sunday in Rio de Janeiro. Lula, who is 76, was previously nominated by his Labor Party, PT, on Thursday.
Bolsonaro only joined the Liberal Party at the end of last year in order to be able to take part in the election at all. It is the ninth party in Bolsonaro's political career since 1988. The party nominated General and former Defense Minister Walter Souza Braga Netto as its vice-presidential candidate.
Bolsonaro and Lula are now once again preparing for a race for the presidency. In 2018, Lula was sentenced to a good 12 years in prison for corruption and money laundering. He was leading in polls at the time, but was then unable to take part in the election that Bolsonaro won. Last year, the Supreme Court overturned the verdict. Lula regained his political rights and went back into politics.
According to recent polls, Bolsonaro is again well behind Lula. Bolsonaro is hoping for a tailwind after Congress allowed the government to spend more on social spending in the election year. In addition, Bolsonaro sows doubts about the Brazilian electoral system. In Rio, his wife Michelle spoke for more than ten minutes to encourage women in particular to choose their husbands.
In his speech, Bolsonaro again threatened the STF Supreme Court and called on his supporters to take to the streets on September 7, Brazil's Independence Day. "We are the majority, we are the good guys, we are free to fight for our fatherland," Bolsonaro said. Last year, more than 100,000 people demonstrated in the largest country in Latin America on Independence Day with anti-democratic slogans for Bolsonaro. At the time, the President had fueled the mood for weeks with authoritarian threatening gestures.
A candidate for the presidency cannot run without a party in the largest country in Latin America. Bolsonaro was elected as a member of the right-wing Partido Social Liberal in 2018. The founding of his own party after he left in 2019 did not go beyond the phase of collecting signatures. Parties and alliances now have until August 15 to register their candidates with the Supreme Electoral Court. From August 16, election campaigns in Brazil are officially allowed. The election will take place on October 2nd. After a suspected Bolsonaro supporter recently shot dead a Labor Party official, concerns about increasing violence during the election campaign have grown.
