Brazil's Bolsonaro to join centrist party, eyeing reelection

Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro has sealed an agreement with the centrist Liberal Party to back his 2022 reelection bid, according to a statement the party published Wednesday

BRASILIA, Brazil -- After two years without a political party, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro sealed an agreement with the centrist Liberal Party to back his 2022 reelection bid, according to a party statement released Wednesday.

The decision followed a meeting between Bolsonaro and Liberal Party leader Valdemar Costa Neto in the capital Brasilia, the statement said. The president's formal enrollment to the party's ranks will take place Nov. 22.

Bolsonaro intends for the alliance to aid him in battling his nemesis, former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. “Lula,” as da Silva is known universally, holds a handsome lead over Bolsonaro in early polls. Joining one of the parties that forms part of the so-called Centrao group also signals Bolsonaro shifting course from his 2018 campaign strategy, when he sharply criticized their old-school political practices.

“It is very symbolic how Bolsonaro has started to play the traditional game of Brazilian politics," said Maurício Santoro, a political science professor at the State University of Rio de Janeiro. “The PL is helping Bolsonaro survive.”