Former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Saturday officially launched his candidacy for elections next October, where the polls put him as a favorite to reach the Planalto Palace right above Jair Bolsonaro.

At a ceremony held in São Paulo, Lula spoke about the “restoration” of Brazil’s economic, political and social sovereignty and the transmission of poverty to the population and the “fascism” of the Bolsonaro government “in the sewer of history”,

Geraldo Alckmin, who was Lula’s opponent in the 2006 elections, was officially introduced as a running mate, a proposal aimed at gaining the sympathy of the Brazilian business community.

At 76, Lula began his seventh Labor Party campaign,

In previous elections, he did not face, as he was in jail for the investigation into Lava Jato, a process that was later overturned by that country’s Supreme Court for discover a “political persecution” in the prosecution of Judge Thomas More.

“Brazil’s sovereignty and the citizens of Brazil must be restored,” said Lula, who defended more state intervention in the economy, criticized Jair Bolsonaro’s government’s privatization and proposed restore the social role of public companies as the engine of development, environmental protection and the fight against hunger.

“It can fight hunger again. All that was occupied was destroyed by the current government. It’s scary, but we won’t give up, ”said the candidate, who also criticized the neoliberal policy that wages cannot afford inflation.

“A town that can’t buy is a businessman that can’t sell,” he said in his classic tone, calling the productive alliance that marked his time of government (2003-2010).

“The will throw fascism into the sewer of history where it shouldn’t have come from, ”he added in a message addressed to Bolsonaro and in which he stressed that his government, in case of success, from January 1, 2023 will invest in science, education, health and culture.

Alckmin, his vice candidate, participated in the act but only through a video because he was with Covid-19 and there he recited the historic figure of Lula and Brazil’s moments to prevent Bolsonaro’s re-election.

“No difference in the past, or from yesterday, or the disagreements of today or tomorrow will serve as a reason, cause, or reason to stop supporting or defending all my beliefs inLula’s return to the presidency of Brazil and it’s with great pride that I did that, ”he said.

Alckmin, former PSDB governor, agreed to become Lula’s deputy after joining the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB) and opening a new frontier of political dialogue in Brazil, especially after anti-political victory represented by Bolsonaro.

“When Lula held out her hand to me, I saw in that gesture more than reconciliation between the two historical rivals, I saw the real call to reasoning, to the reasoning of all. Let’s imagine the disputes of past and unity today. What matters is what Brazil needs. Brazil today has survived the most destructive and cruel government in its history, “said the four -time governor of São Paulo.

Alckmin’s importance in attracting the non-Bolnarist political center-right has raised suspicions in PT after the failed experience with Michel Temer, vice president who conspired against Dilma Rousseff in 2016 and agreed to the presidency with a neoliberal alliance that also supports the captain’s former government. Bolsonaro.

The founder of PT is leader in polls with between 41% and 45% of the vote and surpassed Bolsonaro by between 8 and 15 points, which for his part questioned electoral transparency and used the Armed Forces as a kind of “guarantor” of the Superior Electoral Court, which he had already accused of intent to harm him.

“Respecting Brazil, it spoke as an equal of the rich and powerful and collaborated with the poor on the transfer of investment and technology, something we have done in Latin America and Africa. Let’s strengthen Mercosur, Unasur, CELAC and the Brics, establish alliances and fight for world domination. Brazil is too big to be a pariah, “he said.