Brasil: Us vs Them

BRAZIL

Us vs. Them

The two leading candidates in Brazil’s presidential race chose running mates over the weekend, signaling that the campaign is heating up.

Far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro of the Social Liberal Party chose reserve general Hamilton Mourao of the conservative Brazilian Labor Renewal Party to share the right-wing ticket, while former president Luiz Ignacio “Lula” da Silva selected former Sao Paulo mayor Fernando Haddad as his running mate, Al Jazeera reported.

The left-wing Workers’ Party had announced Lula as its presidential candidate last week, though he is likely to be barred from running in the election due to his recent conviction on corruption charges.

With Lula now the only candidate currently polling ahead of Bolsonaro, the far-right leader’s provocative statements and his running mate’s comments supporting military intervention in politics are raising concerns in the lead-up to the Oct. 7 vote.

Still, Professor Francisco Panizza, a Latin American politics analyst at the UK’s London School of Economics, told Al Jazeera that Brazil’s two-round election system makes it unlikely Bolsonaro will win office, though he could well make it to the run-off.