Former two-term president has emerged as serious challenger to Bolsonaro
Since his return to Brazilian politics in March with a rollicking speech at a metalworkers’ union outside São Paulo, the popularity of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has continued to rise.
Opinion polls suggest Lula — who served two terms as president between 2003 and 2010 — would easily defeat the firebrand conservative Jair Bolsonaro if elections scheduled for October next year were held today.
But while the leftwing former leader’s call for a return to normality after three divisive years of Bolsonaro’s populist rule has resonated, some Brazilians wonder what a new Lula presidency could look like. Over half a century in Brazilian politics, the 75-year-old has shown different stripes.
Lula has conceded that his ideas “change when the facts change”, and he has veered from socialist union leader to the head of a liberal economic administration in 2003. Today he pledges support for the free market while vowing to intervene in state-run companies if it means improving the wellbeing of Brazilians.
Some also wonder whether Lula would seek political vengeance once back in power. He spent almost two years in prison following a corruption conviction in Brazil’s sprawling Lava Jato, or Car Wash, investigation. He deems the conviction, which was quashed by the Supreme Court in March, the result of a political plot by his opponents.
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