Brazil’s Marxist President “Lula“, in alliance with the Communist Party, looks likely to win the presidential election run-off scheduled for October 29th.
From the Communist Party USA’s People’s Weekly World, October 7th.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the 60-year-old former factory worker and labor union leader, on Oct. 1 narrowly fell short of the majority vote needed to avoid a runoff election here. The political coalition of the Worker’s Party and the Communist Party of Brazil that backed “Lula” had 48.6 percent of the vote, just shy of the 50-percent-plus-one needed for an outright win. With 98 percent of the votes tabulated, candidate Geraldo Alckmin’s 41.6 percent put him in the runoff slated for Oct. 29.
Alckmin, a doctor and former governor of São Paulo state, ran on a coalition ticket of the Brazilian Social Democratic Party and the Liberal Front Party, representing the right-wing on Brazil’s political spectrum.
Elected in 2002, Lula’s administration put in practice a platform of economic and social justice, against the privatization and neoliberal economic policy of the former President Fernando Henrique Cardoso.
Lula’s vote was strong in the poorer, northeastern states. Alckmin received many votes in the southern states, which have a larger middle class population. In the second round of voting, Lula will try to broaden his alliance with the center parties like the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party.
Communists had victories at the Oct. 1 polls. Thirteen Communists were elected deputies and, for the first time since 1946, a Communist was elected senator, from the northeastern state of Ceara. (Brazil’s national legislature is composed of a 513-member Chamber of Deputies and an 81-member Senate.) With another senator having joined the Communist Party of Brazil since his election on different ticket in 2002, Brazil will now have two Communist senators.
Now the PCdoB will fight to re-elect Lula in the second round of voting in a great alliance of progressive and democratic parties.
It is bizarre, although the fact Lula hasn’t turned the clock back on free market reforms may say something.
Yes, STF I’ve watched P-Sol’s progress.
The Trots used to love Lula like a chocolate, the Aussie DSP especially.
He’s lost the Trot support by not being socialist enough, but the mainstream commies are still right behind him.
Maybe they know something the Trots don’t?
Cheers.
Trev, you should also keep an eye out for P-SOL, the Party of Socialism and Liberty (hey, even you could join up!). Their candidate Helosia Helena score 6.75% of the first round presidental vote, gaining over 6.5 million votes, P-SOL is a coalition of radicals who left Lula’s PT and Trotskyist parties, such as her own Socialist Democracy group.
6.5 million votes. Thats a sizable stream to swim and recruit in.