Former top judge may run for president
Brazil’s first black Supreme Court justice said yesterday he is considering a run for president, which could be a significant turn, since the widely known retired justice appeals to both supporters and detractors of the current frontrunner, jailed former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Many people had floated former justice Joaquim Barbosa’s name as a contender for October’s election, but he had never publicly spoken about it before.
But, though he raised the possibility of being a candidate, Barbosa added: ‘‘I still haven’t managed to convince myself.’’
The comments came as Barbosa talked with journalists during a meeting in Brasilia of the Brazilian Socialist Party, which he
BRAZIL:
joined early in April to give himself a base for a campaign.
The 63-year-old, who retired from the Supreme Court in 2014, has never run for office.
Da Silva, a popular leftist who still leads preference polls despite being imprisoned this month on a corruption conviction, probably won’t be allowed to run by the electoral court.
On Monday, a Datafolha institute poll gave Barbosa at least 8 per cent support. He called that figure ‘‘very good’’. Brazil’s presidential election is expected to draw up to 16 candidates, splintering the vote.
It is unclear whether the Brazilian Socialist Party can gather enough support for Barbosa to qualify as a presidential candidate. If not, he could run for a different position as the party focuses on gubernatorial and legislative races instead.
One of the key members of the party, Sao Paulo state Governor Marcio Franca, said after the meeting that right-leaning candidate Geraldo Alckmin should get its support instead. Franca was Alckmin’s deputy until April 7 and will run for re-election in Brazil’s most populous and richest state.
Barbosa has voiced support for social programmes identified with the left, but he also gave harsh convictions for corruption to high members of da Silva’s administration, which won him support among conservatives. –AP