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Jair Bolsonaro with his wife Michelle at the Liberal Party convention
Photo: ANDRE COELHO / EPA
As expected, the presidential election in Brazil at the beginning of October will see a duel between the right-wing populist incumbent Jair Bolsonaro and the left-wing ex-president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Bolsonaro (67) was officially named Liberal Party candidate on Sunday in Rio de Janeiro.
Lula (76) had already been nominated by his Labor Party PT on Thursday.
Bolsonaro only joined the Liberal Party at the end of last year in order to be able to take part in the election at all.
It is the ninth party in Bolsonaro's political career since 1988. The party nominated General and former Defense Minister Walter Souza Braga Netto as its vice-presidential candidate.
Meeting on the second try
Bolsonaro and Lula are now preparing for a second head-to-head contest for the presidency.
In 2018, Lula was sentenced to a good 12 years in prison for corruption and money laundering.
He was leading in polls at the time, but was then unable to take part in the election that Bolsonaro won.
Last year, the Supreme Court overturned the verdict.
Lula regained his political rights and went back into politics.
According to recent polls, Bolsonaro is again well behind Lula.
But he's hoping for momentum after Congress allowed his administration to spend more on social spending.
In addition, Bolsonaro sows doubts about the Brazilian electoral system.
In Rio, his wife Michelle gave a speech lasting more than ten minutes to encourage women in particular to choose their husbands.
A candidate for the presidency cannot run 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 go beyond the phase of collecting signatures.
Parties and alliances now have until August 15 to register their candidates with the Supreme Electoral Court.
From August 16, election campaigns in Brazil are officially allowed.
The election will take place on October 2nd.
After a suspected Bolsonaro supporter recently shot dead a Labor Party official, concerns about increasing violence during the election campaign have grown.
pbe/dpa
