SAO BRASLIA: Brazil’s leftist Workers’ Party nominated its charismatic founder Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for the upcoming presidential contest on Saturday despite him being imprisoned for corruption. In a message from Lula read to the party convention in Sao Paulo, he said, “Brazil needs to restore its democracy.” Although serving a 12-year sentence for corruption, Lula, 72, remains by far the frontrunner in opinion polls.

Three big party conventions were held on Saturday, two months before the first round of voting on October 7 in Latin America’s dominant economy.

In Brasilia, center-left environmental campaigner Marina Silva was crowned by her Rede party. Also in the capital, former Sao Paulo governor and establishment heavyweight Geraldo Alckmin secured the nod from the centre-right Brazilian Social Democratic Party, or PSDB.

But while both Silva and Alckmin are serious contenders in a likely match-up against controversial right-winger Jair Bolsonaro, it was Lula’s highly unusual convention in Sao Paulo that overshadowed proceedings.

Lula is in prison in the southern city of Curitiba, serving a 12-year sentence for corruption and likely to be barred from the ballot. But his Workers’ Party issued a call to arms, casting Lula as a victim of a rigged case and vowing to get him back into office, following his largely popular two terms from 2003-2010.

In the Sao Paulo convention centre, some 2,000 attendees donned Lula masks and chanted his name. Then, after fiery speeches from Lula’s senior allies, the party faithful heard the leader’s words — read out by an actor.

“They want to scrap the people’s right to choose the president,” the message said. “They want to create a democracy without the people. We have an enormous responsibility ahead.”

Supporters have one remarkable factor on their side: despite his imprisonment and the corruption scandal, Lula remains far ahead in the polls. Surveys show him with near double the support of all other main candidates in a first round, crushing any runner-up in the second decisive round two weeks later.

Lula is waiting for final court judgement on whether he can run and it doesn’t look good: under current law anyone losing an appeal of a criminal conviction is not allowed on the ballot.

So despite the leftist leader’s almost cult-like backing, there was close attention being paid to the Workers’ Party choice for vice president — a figure who could end up standing in for the imprisoned leader.

The problem facing all candidates is the level of voter disgust and apathy. Two polls show that 33 or 41 per cent of voters are undecided or not participating in an election that doesn’t include Lula. If Lula was on the ballot, that number would drop but still account for about a quarter of voters.

Published in Dawn, August 5th, 2018