Brazil's ex-president Lula launches presidential campaign

SAO PAULO: Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva launched Saturday his campaign for the presidency alongside his proposed vice president, former Sao Paulo Governor Geraldo Alckmin.

Lula announced his candidacy and unveiled the seven-party alliance Let's Go Together for Brazil Movement to a crowd of about 4,000 people here, reported Xinhua.

"It is more than urgent to restore the sovereignty of Brazil," he said during his speech at the rally, adding that if he wins the elections scheduled for Oct 2, he will work "again on the mission to combat hunger".

The 76-year-old has run for president several times before: he was defeated three times before he triumphed in 2002 and 2006.

In 2018, he ran for a sixth time but was disqualified a month before the election after being convicted of corruption, a charge ultimately overturned by the Federal Supreme Court in 2021.

Lula said during the rally that his proposed foreign policy would be "active", reinforcing regional blocs and pushing to "modify world governance", with an emphasis on the need to strengthen BRICS, which groups Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

He added that his government programme includes the defence of public companies and banks, while maintaining that the driver of development should be the state oil company Petrobras.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, of the Liberal Party, has also expressed his intention to stand for re-election.

-- BERNAMA