Brazilian former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has set the stage for a likely 2022 presidential run, using his first speech since his graft convictions were overturned to blast President Jair Bolsonaro's handling of the pandemic and economy.
Former President of the Republic Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (PT) holds a press conference at the ABC Metalworkers Union in Sao Bernardo do Campo, metropolitan region of Sao Paulo. Photo: AFP
Lula, whose corruption convictions were quashed by a Supreme Court justice earlier this week, allowing him to return to political office, said today he had not decided whether to run in next year's election. But his attacks on Bolsonaro, and the format of the event, had the clear feel of a campaign launch.
"This country is disorganised and falling apart because it has no government," he told the audience, comparing the current economic crisis to strong growth and falling inequality when he led Brazil from 2003 until 2011.
"Health, jobs and justice for Brazil," read a banner hanging above the stage at the metalworkers union in Sao Bernardo do Campo, where Lula's political career took off as he organised nationwide strikes in the 1980s.
Lula attacked Bolsonaro directly for his record in handling the coronavirus pandemic, especially delays obtaining vaccines and doubts sowed by the president about their effectiveness.
Brazil has lost nearly 270,000 people to COVID-19, the worst death toll outside the United States, with homegrown variants pushing the country's outbreak into its worst phase yet.
"Many of these deaths could have been avoided," Lula said.
Lula has called for a broad front to defeat Far Right president Jair Bolsonaro. Photo: AFP
The former president cast himself as a veteran statesman eager to set the country on the right track, stressing his respect for the free press, business leaders and the military, while calling for a broad coalition to defeat Bolsonaro.
"I was called 'conciliatory' when I governed," he said. "I'm open to talking with everyone."
However, Lula also reinforced longstanding egalitarian positions that have set financial markets on edge at the prospect of his political resurrection. The leftist leader decried privatisations, central bank autonomy and asset sales by state-run oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras.
"Those who are buying things from Petrobras had best be afraid, because we can change a lot," Lula said. "If the market wants to live off us selling national patrimony, then they should be afraid of me."
A survey by pollster Real Time Big Data, released by CNN Brasil on Wednesday, showed Lula and Bolsonaro with the support needed to reach a second-round vote.
- Reuters