Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is set to officially become a candidate for re-election at a party congress in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday as he tries to regain the commanding lead built up by his main rival, former leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
The right-wing Liberal Party (PL) is expected to nominate Bolsonaro as its candidate for the Oct. 2 vote before an audience of about 10,000 people at Rio’s Maracanazio stadium, a move considered the official launch of Bolsonaro’s candidacy under Brazilian law.
In the coming weeks, the already heated battle between the two leading candidates is expected to heat up even more. In mid-August, Lula and Bolsonaro will be released by authorities to engage in most forms of political advertising.
The launch of his candidacy comes as Bolsonaro struggles to gain ground with voters as high inflation continues to hurt his already divisive image.
Some polls put the former army captain nearly 20 percentage points behind Lula, who ruled the nation from 2003 to 2010 and lifted millions of people out of poverty through aggressive social spending during a period of rapid growth based on the goods. Read the full story
His star has fallen somewhat in recent years due to high-level corruption investigations into his government — Lula himself spent more than a year and a half in prison on a bribery conviction that was later overturned — but he remains a relatively popular figure among Brazilians.
Bolsonaro’s government has increasingly resorted to social spending, including handouts to some constituencies, in an effort to boost his campaign. He has also stepped up his baseless attacks on the country’s electronic voting system, raising doubts about whether he would accept a defeat. Read the full story Read the full story
At the conference, Bolsonaro is expected to focus on his administration’s achievements in securing religious and economic freedom, including his efforts to loosen gun laws, according to campaign sources consulted by Reuters.
The left-wing Workers’ Party (PT) formally nominated Lula on Thursday, while centre-left candidate Ciro Gomez, who comes in a distant third, was nominated by the Democratic Workers’ Party (PDT) on Wednesday. Read the full story Read the full story
Source: Capital
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