It seems an unlikely bet, but the Workers' Party launched the candidacy of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

The Workers' Party (PT) has launched the candidacy of its leader, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in what according to Infobae is an improbable bet that confirms the main role of the ex-leftist in Brazilian politics.

At 72, da Silva was a candidate three times before winning the 2002 and 2006 elections and imposing his political heiress Dilma Rousseff, who was dismissed in 2016 after being accused of violating tax regulations to make up the country's finances.

Leer en español: Desde la cárcel será candidato presidencial: ¿cuáles son las opciones de Lula da Silva?

Despite paying a sentence of 12 years for the crimes of passive corruption and money laundering since April 7, the former president has an intention to vote of 30% for the elections of October 7, which will have an eventual second round on the 28th of the same month.

In these elections, Lula will have to face the ex-governor of Sao Paulo Geraldo Alckmin, of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB, center-right); the ecologist Marina Silva, of the Rede Sustentabilidad party, and the already proclaimed extreme-right Jair Bolsonaro, who in the absence of Lula leads the intentions to vote.

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Since April, the national vice president of training, Alexandre Padilha, told BBC Brazil that the PT would not make Lula resign from the candidacy: "The law establishes that candidacies must be registered in August. We will follow what the law says and then the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE) will have to endorse it, and Lula will remain our candidate, imprisoned or not. "

According to statements by a member of the PT to Reuters, in the event that da Silva cannot participate in the elections, the former mayor of Sao Paulo Fernando Haddad will be the candidate for the Brazilian presidency of the Workers' Party.

Lula da Silva spoke on his Twitter account and said "Lula, candidate for the Presidency of the Republic! Start our day today to bring back the best president of the History of Brazil."

Lula candidate à Presidência da República! Come to visit us for a tour of Volta or Melhor, president of História do Brasil. # LulaLivreJá #OBrasilFelizdeNovo

Photos: Ricardo Stuckert pic.twitter.com/5I4I79w3Jd

– Lula (@LulaOficial) August 4, 2018

What are his options?

According to a report by the BBC, the Superior Electoral Tribunal has until September 17 to rule on the registration of Lula's candidacy. In case of rejection, the PT can appeal the decision before the Federal Supreme Court and extend the process.

The lawyer Marcelo Peregrino, former judge of the Regional Electoral Court of Santa Catarina, explained to BBC Brazil that if Lula were to be between the first two candidates in the first round, but he is removed from the elections before the second, his votes would be annulled and the candidate in third place would take his place.

In fact, if at the time of the second round the TSE has not yet made a decision and Lula wins the elections, the Court has the right to eliminate his candidacy even after he has been elected president and the president of the Chamber would assume the presidency of the Republic and call elections within 90 days, so the act of the PT would not be more than a symbolic one that demonstrates the force that Lula still has in the South American country.

LatinAmerican Post | Luisa Fernanda Báez
Translated from “Desde la cárcel será candidato presidencial: ¿cuáles son las opciones de Lula da Silva?”