Lula launches out in the presidential race in spite of his imprisonment

“Lula chair!” Nearly 40 demonstrators, the Brazilian ones of Switzerland or other people whose two diplomats Venezuelans, gathered Wednesday evening in Geneva to support the candidature of the former Head of the Brazilian State for the presidential election of October.

“Olé, olé, olà, release Lula”, the demonstrators sang on the Place of the Nations. Lula controlled Brazil between 2003 and 2011 are behind the bars since April after being condemned for corruption to 12 years and a month of prison. But even imprisoned, it remains largely at the top of the voting intentions with the first turn, credited of more than 30% by all the survey institutes. It is close to the double of its main competitors.

During last decades, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva played an eminent role as trade unionist, presenter of social struggles, founder and directing Party of the workers. Elected official chair Republic in 2002, it implemented at Brazil an ambitious program of social changes which made leave the poverty and the misery of the million men and women. Its economic policy allowed the creation of million employment and a considerable increase in the incomes of the workers. President Lula to bring back our national sovereignty!

Even in prison, former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva wants to be again a Head of State. Wednesday, August 15, the Party of workers (Pt) deposited his candidature for the Brazilian presidential election, planned for October 2018, in spite of the judgment in call.

A letter written by Lula since his cell was indeed read in public, at the convention organized by its political party.

“This national meeting of Party of the Workers could be one of most important of the history of our party (…) .  The decision of today will lead us to a fight baited for the democracy, the Brazilian people and Brazil”, in particular that which still constitutes, for many Brazilian wrote, an emblematic figure of the Latin–American left. Not being able to go to the event, Lula in addition underlined: “I know that I am present through each one of you, each leader, delegated and militant of the Party of the Workers.”
“They want to invent a democracy without the people”, Lula affirmed, in a message read by an actor, having nearly 2,000 boosted militants. A few minutes earlier, these militants brought together for the convention of Pt in Sao Paulo raised masks out of paperboard bearing the effigy of the icon of the left to the greying beard while shouting “I am Lula”.

Whereas more the high representatives of Pt went to the electoral court for the deposit of the candidature, a few hours only before the deadline, several thousands of partisans ravelled in front of more the electoral high jurisdiction of Brazil while stressing “Release Lula” and “Lula chair”.

He was immediately asked by the office of the public prosecutor that the candidature of Lula under the terms of the law is invalidated “Card–indexed Limpa” (clean record). This law provides that the candidates having been condemned in call for corruption are excluded from the presidential ballot.

In slides, however, the ex–mayor of Sao Paulo Fernando Haddad is already in the starting blocks to replace it if its candidature is actually invalidated.

Dilma Rousseff, the former elected president in 2011 then relieved in April 2016, inter alia evoked the “combat” to carry out to restore the democracy in Brazil: “We cope with a very hard combat. We want that Lula presents himself as chair because people want it. This stage, we must fight the every day. Let us fight!”

Accused of corruption and money laundering, the former Brazilian president always denied the facts which were reproached to him, affirming to be victim of a plot intended to prevent it from presenting itself to the election of October 2018.

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Gabriel MIHAI

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