LULA. Two-time president of the Federative Republic of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is a candidate for the 2022 presidential election and appears able to win against Jair Bolsonaro, according to the polls.
This could be his big comeback. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, better known simply as Lula, returned to politics after being forced out by his imprisonment. Released by the Supreme Federal Court in 2021, the leader of the Workers’ Party has been an official candidate for the presidential election of Brazil since July 21, 2022. The left-wing politician and former president of the Brazilian Federative Republic, between 2003 and 2010, has therefore launched his campaign hoping to be elected a third time at the head of the country on October 2 and 30.
Faced with his main competitor, outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro, Lula has already entered the battle which promises to be tough and has only just begun. “Defeat this guy [Bolsonaro, ndlr] is a matter of honor for the Brazilian people!”, chanted the former head of state in Rio de Janeiro, his rival’s playground, on July 7 during a political meeting, reports The world. It must be said that these are two diametrically opposed policies that clash: the coalition of leftist forces united behind Lula against the far right which has ruled Brazil for four years. Shootings of this kind should multiply, especially since Lula knows that he has a clear advantage in the polls three months before the presidential election. The latest survey published by Datafolha on July 28, 2022 places him 18 points ahead of Jair Bolsonaro. It remains for him to maintain this lead or even to widen it further.
Lula, president of Brazil for a third time?
The victories of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the presidential elections of 2002 and 2006 had been without appeal with each time more than 60% of the votes collected in the second round. After two consecutive terms, the politician had no choice but to give way to another candidate to represent the left, but in 2022 he returns to the forefront of the political scene and hopes to win a third presidential election. The mandate of his predecessor, much criticized, could be favorable to him and Lula knows that there is a shot to play. “We are going to make Rio happy again”, he assured the crowd on July 7 in Rio according to The world. During his meeting, the left-wing politician had long condemned Jair Bolsonaro’s policy, using easy arguments such as the management of the Covid-19 pandemic in Brazil making “650,000 dead” and others supposed to recall the good years of Brazil ruled by the left: “I doubt that, in all its history, Rio has ever received as much money as when the PT was in power!”.
What do the polls predict for Lula in the 2022 presidential election in Brazil?
Since the opinion polls on voting intentions for the 2022 Brazilian presidential election began, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has won first place. And the latest survey conducted by Datafolha and published on July 28 confirms the trend. Lula is credited with 47% of the voting intentions with 18 points ahead of the outgoing candidate, Jair Bolsonaro (29%). If the results of the polls are favorable to Lula three months before the election, the former head of state must maintain his lead until October 2 and 30.
Lula holds a large part of his electorate among the working classes where 54% of people support his candidacy against 23% for Bolsonaro, and among women, 46% against 27%. However, the institute notes a progression of a few points of the far-right candidate in the space of a month.
Who is Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva? Biography
Inácio Lula da Silva is known as the first left-wing Brazilian president under the New Republic, a regime in place since 1985. Elected for the first time on October 27, 2022 and reappointed as president in October 2006, the politician has installed in power on January 1, 2003 and remained there until January 1, 2011. Lula is a metalworker by profession and got involved in politics by participating in the founding of the Workers’ Party (PT) inspired by socialism, in 1980. Prior to this, he had been an important player in Brazilian trade unionism since 1975, to the point of having been repeatedly confronted with the power of the military dictatorship. He represented the left party in various presidential elections and after three failures in 1989, 1994 and 1998, he was elected on his fourth attempt.
Under Lula’s tenure, Brazil’s economic situation improved, in particular thanks to the austerity policy launched by his predecessors, which achieved its objectives in 2003. On the other hand, it is to Lula da Silva that Brazil owes social progress such as the creation of “Bolsa Familia” family allowances, a pillar of the fight against poverty. He also launched programs to make medicines and basic foodstuffs accessible to the poorest. Several investments to improve living conditions in the favelas and develop housing assistance are also his work.
After his two terms and while he was appointed minister by President Dilma Rousseff in 2016, Lula is suspected of corruption and money laundering. Doubts which lead to the suspension of his mandate as minister by the courts. Two years later, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was sentenced to twelve years in prison for corruption in the Petrobras case, named after the oil company involved in the scandal, by judge Sergio Moro. Lula is also stripped of his right of eligibility. In 2021, the Supreme Federal Court annuls the conviction for formal defect and the politician recovers his rights which allows him to return to politics.