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News > Latin America

'Lula Will Be Brazil's Next President': Workers' Party

  • Lula meets some well wishers on his latest caravan to the states of Espirito Santo and Rio de Janeiro.

    Lula meets some well wishers on his latest caravan to the states of Espirito Santo and Rio de Janeiro. | Photo: Twitter / @LulapeloBrasil

Published 13 December 2017
Opinion

“The (legal) process against Lula has been marked by several exceptions to the rule of law," the statement read.

Brazil's Workers' Party has released an official statement saying “Lula (former President Luiz Inacio da Silva) is their (presidential) candidate and will be the next president of Brazil.”

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Signed by the political party's first female president, Gleisi Hoffman, the letter said that “faced with proof of Lula's innocence, there's only one legal and just decision for the case.” That is, “the revocation of his sentence and acquittal by the TRF-4 (Fourth Regional Federal Court).”

The statement also criticized the speed with which TRF-4 evaluated the appeal submitted by Lula's defense team. “The (legal) process against Lula has been marked by several exceptions to the rule of law: being coercively ushered away, the leaking of telephone calls with president Dilma, the conviction without evidence.”

It went on to note that by scheduling his trial “in such a short period of time,” the court acts with “minimal” adherence to the norms of legal proceedings.

Hoffman also reiterated that even if Lula's conviction is upheld, it doesn't automatically make him ineligible. “Any discussion or questioning about his candidacy will only occur after registration in the Supreme Electoral Court, in August.”

Lula's trial, in a loathsome twist of planning, some argue, is scheduled to begin on Jan. 24, 2018, one year to the date in which his former wife, Marisa Leticia, suffered a stroke and passed away days later.

On more than one occasion, Lula attributed her sudden death to stress brought on by unwarranted probes into him and his family by political opponents. Conversations the former First Lady had with their children were leaked to the media during a series of investigations involving Lula.

“I don't think Brazil was unfair with her, but these youngsters heading the Car Wash (investigations) are responsible for her death,” he said during a radio interview in Currais Novos, Rio Grande do Norte. “If they're accustomed to messing with corrupt politicians who dash off humiliated and keep quiet, in my case, they'll have to provide proof.”

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Over the past few months, several polls have shown that Lula enjoys a comfortable lead in Brazil's 2018 presidential election.

Lula's two-term presidency was marked by a slew of social programs. He was credited with lifting millions of Brazilians out of poverty and tackling hunger.

One of his most ambitious and successful programs was the Family Allowance. Launched in 2003, the program provides stipends to families living below the poverty line. In turn, those families must prove that their children are attending school and have been vaccinated.

Having left office in 2011 with a record approval rating of 83 percent, according to Datafolha, Lula, now at a healthy 72 years of age, previously called out his judicial, political and media accusers saying, “if they don't want me to be a (presidential) candidate, go to the polls and vote against me. Don't create artifices and tricks to prevent my candidacy.”

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