Lula Doesn't Rule Out Running for President of Brazil Once More in 2014
Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who ends two terms in office this month with record popularity, left the door open for a comeback as soon as 2014.
Under Lula’s watch, 21 million Brazilians were lifted out of poverty, unemployment fell to a record low and the country’s inflation rate was reduced by more than half.
Lula’s approval rating has jumped to a new high as he prepares to hand power to his former Cabinet chief, Dilma Rousseff. Brazil’s constitution bars presidents from serving three straight terms.
“I can’t say I won’t because I’m alive,” Lula said in an interview with RedeTV! Network posted on its website today, when asked if he would consider running for president again. “We will work for Dilma and for good government, and when the right time comes we will see what will happen.”
Lula’s departure as Brazil’s most popular president on record increases the pressure on Rousseff, said analyst Andre Pereira Cesar, founder of Brasilia-based political risk company CAC Consultoria. Rousseff lacks Lula’s personal charisma, Cesar said in a phone interview today.
“Even if Dilma installs a good government, you can’t rule out Lula running in 2014. Mathematically, it is almost impossible for Dilma to surpass his popularity,” Cesar said.
Support for Lula rose to an unprecedented 87 percent this month, from 85 percent in September, according to an Ibope poll published Dec. 16. The poll had a margin of error of two percentage points.
Rousseff won 56 percent of the votes in an Oct. 31 runoff against Jose Serra, the former governor of Sao Paulo state.
Of the 2,002 people surveyed by Ibope, 18 percent said Rousseff’s government will be better than Lula’s and 58 percent said it would be as good.
To contact the reporters on this story: Andre Soliani in Brasilia at asoliani@bloomberg.net Maria Luiza Rabello in Brasilia at mrabello@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Joshua Goodman at jgoodman19@bloomberg.net
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