Lula wins support from “Big Center” party

Workers' Party chair Gleisi Hoffmann, Solidariedade chair Paulinho da Força, and Lula. Photo: Ricardo Stukert/PT

Solidariedade, a political party belonging to the so-called “Big Center” — the support base of President Jair Bolsonaro in Congress — announced it will support former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in this year’s election. Ideologically on the center-right, the party has sided with the Bolsonaro government during 87 percent of House votes since the last election.

Now, Solidariedade head Paulinho da Força will be pictured alongside Lula when the former president officially launches his candidacy on May 7. His strategy is to create a broad front against the far-right incumbent, having already convinced traditional conservative Geraldo Alckmin to stand as his running mate.

The agreement between Lula’s Workers’ Party and Solidariedade was not easy. Paulinho da Força had not been speaking to Lula since being booed by crowds at a Workers’ Party demo in São Paulo last year. Just this week, Paulinho da Força had met with potential center-right candidate Eduardo Leite.

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Amanda Audi

Amanda Audi is a journalist specializing in politics and human rights. She is the former executive director of Congresso em Foco and worked as a reporter for The Intercept Brasil, Folha de S. Paulo, O Globo, Gazeta do Povo, Poder360, among others. In 2019, she won the Comunique-se Award for best-written media reporter and won the Mulher Imprensa award for web journalism in 2020