Lula appointed former political rival Geraldo Alckmin as running mate for the October elections

Former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Friday appointed centrist Geraldo Alckmin as the vice presidential candidate in the formula he is likely to lead in the October elections against Jair Bolsonaro.

The appointment of Alckmin, Lula's former political rival, took place within the framework of an alliance between the leftist leader's Workers Party (PT) and the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB), to which the centrist politician recently joined.

“We need Alckmin's experience (and) my experience to fix Brazil,” Lula told the press at an event in Sao Paulo.

“I am sure that the Workers' Party will approve his name as a candidate for vice,” the former metallurgist told Alckmin.

The presidential election is expected to be polarized between Lula, who leads the voting intentions, and the far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, without a strong “third way”.

The former president has not yet confirmed his candidacy to compete for his third term, but he has increasingly shown himself in that role in the pre-campaign.

The official deadline for registering applications does not start until 20 July. Alckmin, co-founder of Fernando Henrique Cardoso's Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB) and PSB figure since March, faced Lula in the 2006 elections and lost by a large margin in the second round.

Today, the governor of Sao Paulo in two terms (2001-2006 and 2011-2014) is Lula's bet to expand his electoral base.

Alckmin, 69, promised to “join efforts” to “rebuild” and “redemocratize” the country, “in the face of a government that threatens democracy and institutions.”

The pre-candidate for vice presidency could help attract center voters and many disgusted by the corruption scandals that marked the last years of the PT in government (2003-2016).

“Two forces that have different plans, and that have the same principles, can come together at a time when the people need it,” justified Lula, who highlighted the “civilized” rivalry of the past.

“Today we have a policy of hate, in which the adversary is an enemy, and it is not to win, but to destroy,” Lula lamented in reference to Bolsonaro's government.

“That formula” between the two politicians, “if it is formalized, is not only to contest the elections. Maybe winning them will be easier than the task ahead of us to recover this country,” added the leftist.

A Datafolha poll released in March indicates that the former president leads the race to the Planalto Palace with 43% of the intention to vote in the first round of October 2, followed by Bolsonaro, with 26%.

In March, Lula said that, at the age of 76, he would “have no reason to go back” to run for the presidency, although he believes that he “needs to do it” to “defeat fascism” in the October elections.

“Why is a guy like me, who was already president, thinking about coming back?” , he raised before a thousand MST militants, to whom he immediately replied: “I must be a candidate, and it is not out of arrogance”, but because “never before did this country need so much” a ruler who “truly thinks of the people”.

(With information from AFP and EFE)

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