Brazil's Lula taps former rival as his pick for running mate
ABC News
Former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has chosen a past rival to be his running mate in October’s election
SAO PAULO -- Former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said on Friday that he has chosen a past rival to be his running mate in October's election. The pick appears to be aimed at improving the leftist's appeal to centrist voters and shoring up his lead in early polls over incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro.
Da Silva held a public meeting at a Sao Paulo hotel with Geraldo Alckmin, a three-term governor of Sao Paulo state who ran against da Silva in the 2006 presidential elections. The selection of Alckmin depends on final approval from the executive committee of da Silva's leftist Workers' Party, which is widely expected to ratify the pick.
“No one has more experience to be vice president than Alckmin,” da Silva said at the event that was broadcast live. “This ticket, if confirmed, is not only to win the elections. Maybe it is easier to win the elections than the task we have ahead to recover this country.”
“We will talk to all of society: to business leaders and to working-class people," he added.
