Luis Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil. (Screenshot, AFP)
Former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said on Monday that he is ready to run for the election to regain power from the far-right successor Jair Bolsonaro.
But while announcing that “I am willing, I am motivated, and I am healthy” as a candidate, Lula said that he will only make a decision early next year, a few months before the October 2022 election.
At the European Parliament media conference in Brussels, 76-year-old Lula, together with the leaders of the Parliamentary Socialist Party and Democratic Party, delivered a speech in Brussels, clearly expressing his views on Bolsonaro.
Lula belittled former US leader Donald Trump by saying:
Bolsonaro is a copy of Trump.
“He is a terrible copy of Trump. But Bolsonaro doesn’t think he has any ideas,” Lula said, accusing his successor of ensuring that all the beneficial legacy of Lula’s administration is “torn down.”
Read also | Brazil’s Bolsonaro warns that the virus vaccine can turn people into “crocodile”
Lula is a former union leader who served as president from 2003 to 2010 and was considered to be ahead of Bolsonaro in the voter survey.
In Brussels, he again dismissed the corruption allegations of “persecution” that sent him to prison during the last election in 2018, but this year was overturned by the Supreme Court of Brazil.
Since his release, Lula has become a presidential candidate waiting for the polls next year.
He said of his Workers’ Party: “We need someone to stand up and we need to win elections. At the same time, we must rebuild Brazil.”
He added, “In February or March, I will decide whether I will participate. It depends on whether the party wants me to be a candidate.”
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