Ex-mayor to run for Brazil's president if Lula is barred

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Former Sao Paulo Mayor Fernando Haddad will be the Brazilian leftist Workers Party's presidential candidate if jailed former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is barred from running in the October vote, a party source said on Friday.

If Lula is able to run, Communist Party hopeful Manuela D'Avila will abandon her own bid for top office and instead become his vice presidential running mate, according to the source, who is close to the negotiations and asked for anonymity.

Neither Haddad nor D'Avila could immediately be reached for comment.

The 72-year-old Lula leads opinion polls in Brazil's most uncertain race in decades, despite his slim chance of actually being able to compete.

Former Sao Paulo Mayor Fernando Haddad speaks during an interview in Sao Paulo, Brazil, April 17, 2018. /VCG Photo

The Workers Party has said it plans to nominate Lula at its convention on Saturday, even though he cannot actively campaign as long as he is incarcerated, and will almost certainly be barred from running in the October 7 election, due to a corruption conviction.

The choice of Haddad suggests party officials are coming around to the idea of transferring Lula's support rather than having him mount his own campaign from jail.

Haddad, 55, of Lebanese-Christian descent, lost his 2016 bid for re-election to Sao Paulo's city hall in a stunning first round defeat to rising conservative star Joao Doria.

Haddad's relative youth and distance from the major corruption scandals roiling Brazilian politics had bolstered expectations that he could be the most likely stand-in for Lula.

Still, his resounding 2016 defeat and lack of a connection with the party's northeastern base has counted against him.

A supporter of former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva checks his mobile phone in a camp near the Federal Police in Curitiba, Brazil, August 2, 2018. /VCG Photo

Despite running for the presidency, D'Avila and her Communist Party of Brazil were widely expected to eventually join forces with the Workers Party.

On Thursday, Brazilian Senator Ana Amelia Lemos said centrist presidential candidate Geraldo Alckmin was close to confirming her as his running mate.

The pick may help Alckmin target a weakness of rival candidate and right-wing congressman Jair Bolsonaro, the opinion poll front-runner if Lula is excluded. Bolsonaro has made comments denigrating women and his backing among women is half that of his support from men.

Source(s): Reuters