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President Jair Bolsonaro: New member of the Partido Liberal
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Joedson Alves / EPA
Brazil’s most recently independent right-wing leader Jair Bolsonaro has rejoined a party in time for the presidential elections next year.
Bolsonaro joined the center-right Partido Liberal in a ceremony broadcast live on social media.
It is the ninth party in Bolsonaro's career as a politician since 1988. The move was expected.
A candidate for president cannot be without a party in the largest country in Latin America.
Bolsonaro was elected as a member of the right-wing Partido Social Liberal in 2018.
The founding of his own party after he left in 2019 did not get beyond the phase of collecting signatures.
The presidential elections in Brazil will take place in October 2022.
The Partido Liberal currently has the third largest number of seats in the Chamber of Deputies and is considered to be one of the majority procurers with changing alliances in Brazil's party structure.
The rather conservative party had also supported the governments of the Labor Party of ex-President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in short: Lula.
More unpopular than ever
In current surveys, Bolsonaro only comes to around 22 percent, making it more unpopular than ever since he took office.
Above all, his compatriots accuse him of careless handling of the corona pandemic;
Nearly 615,000 deaths related to Covid-19 have been recorded in Brazil.
According to recent polls, Lula is clearly ahead, although he has not yet officially declared his candidacy.
Numerous motions for impeachment have been filed against Bolsonaro.
Five preliminary investigations have started with the judicial authorities.
However, it does not look as if this could be dangerous for him until the end of his current term of office.
hba / dpa / AFP