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Former mayor of Sao Paulo Fernando Haddad told Reuters on Tuesday that he was talking with other left-wing parties about forging a united leftist front for the elections if former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is barred from running by corruption accusations.
"We are seeing that both the left and the right are divided, with many candidates. With the exception of Lula, no one has more than 20 percent of voter support," Haddad said in his first interview since Lula was imprisoned on April 7.
Haddad, 55, could potentially be the Workers Party's "Plan B" in the likely case that Lula cannot run, according to Reuters, quoting sources in the party saying that Lula has privately discussed the need for Haddad to start preparing to run, even while the party plans to stick to their founder's candidacy.
Haddad thinks the party can still win 20 percent of the votes on Election Day. "There is no guarantee that the left will have a single candidate. But in the run-off, I'm sure we will unite behind one leftist candidate," he said. Haddad called for a center-left alliance to confront the equally fragmented center-right parties that have their own difficulties in a wide open field. "Our challenge is simpler," Haddad said. "We all oppose that agenda."
Lula has allegedly given his blessing to Haddad to be his emissary in talks with other leftist leaders. He said he had met with former Ceará state Governor Ciro Gomes and the head of the Brazilian Socialist Party, which may nominate Joaquim Barbosa, a former Supreme Court justice. Both Gomes and Barbosa garnered 9 percent voter support in a Datafolha poll published on Sunday. Haddad polled 2 percent.
Last Wednesday, Lula lost his latest appeal against his conviction for corruption and money laundering charges and a judge vetoed a scheduled visit to Lula by Nobel Peace Prize recipient Adolfo Perez Esquivel.
The most recent polls conducted by Vox Populi for the Unified Workers' Union reveals that 59 percent of the Brazilian population consider Lula to be a political prisoner after he complied with an arrest warrant against him earlier this month.
Despite his conviction and imprisonment, the former head of state has topped every 2018 electoral poll conducted, including those of Vox Populi, Ibope, Datafolha, Data Poder 360, Instituto Parana, the National Confederation of Transportation/MDA and Ipsos.
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