Wanted in Brazil – some willing vice-presidential candidates

RIO DE JANEIRO: Just two months ahead of Brazil’s presidential election, leading candidates are struggling to find anybody willing to be their running mates.

Big names who have shunned offers to run for vicepresident include generals, businessmen, an astronaut, a famous actor and even a descendent of Brazil’s royal family.

Even though three of the last five Brazilian leaders came to office as vicepresidents, potential candidates this year have cited reasons ranging from family matters to opposition by their parties, all saying effectively, “Thanks, but no thanks”.

The apparent disinterest in hitching one’s reputation to any candidate comes at a time when the political class in Latin America’s largest nation is deeply unpopular after years of corruption scandals.

The race is also up in the air because pollleading former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is in prison and likely to be barred from running.

The candidate struggling most to find a viable running mate appears to be Congressman Jair Bolsonaro, a former army captain who presents himself as an outsider despite being in Congress since 1991.

Promises to crack down on corruption and crime have gained him a large following and put him second in the polls, but he has come under strong criticism for numerous racist, sexist and homophobic comments over the years. “The cost of associating with a candidate like him, homophobic and machista, is very high,” said Sergio Praca, a political science professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, a think tank and university in Rio de Janeiro.

“Being Bolsonaro’s vicepresidential candidate and losing (the election) would be bad for anybody.”