The Workers’ Party’s next move, after losing Lula

In the most uncertain election in Brazilian democratic history, few things were as clear as the fact that former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva would be barred from running for a third term. Since January, when the Federal Appellate Court of the 4th Region confirmed his conviction for passive corruption and money laundering, increasing his sentence to 12 years in prison, it was clear that the Clean Slate law, which bars candidates with multiple convictions from taking office, would stand in Lula’s way.

The Superior Electoral Court’s decision was the epilogue of a clash between Lula and the Justice system that began on March 4, 2016, when Federal Police marshals conducted a search and seizure operation in Lula’s apartment – and forcefully took him in for questioning. It was then that Lula formally announced himself as a candidate for...