Explaining Brazil #186: How dreamy is Lula’s dream team?

They say politics makes for strange bedfellows. And Brazil’s 2022 election will certainly prove the old adage right. Former President Lula, the center-left icon who leads all polls, is reportedly all but certain to have former São Paulo Governor Geraldo Alckmin as his running mate, a bonafide establishment conservative.

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Guest:

• Euan Marshall is an editor at The Brazilian Report and also hosts the Explaining Brazil podcast in the absence of Gustavo Ribeiro.
• Carlos Pereira is a professor of public administration at think tank Fundação Getulio Vargas. He holds a master’s degree in Sociology from the Federal University of Pernambuco, a Ph.D. in Political Science from the New School University in New York, and conducted post-doctoral research in Political Science at the University of Oxford.

This episode used music from Uppbeat. License codes: 93H47FHQTFTZ3DPO.

Background reading:

• Despite being on opposite sides of the Brazilian political discourse pre-2018 and facing off directly in 2006, Lula and Geraldo Alckmin could be about to team up to topple President Bolsonaro. Amanda Audi explains how the odd couple came to be.
• A new survey by Ipsos in 30 countries shows that the perception of inflation in Brazil trails only Argentina, Colombia, Turkey, and Russia. And presidential approval in Brazil is mostly linked to economic performance. Trailing in the polls, Mr. Bolsonaro has poorer unemployment and inflation indicators than other incumbents fighting for a second term.
• Despite ample signs of democratic backsliding under Bolsonaro and further threats on the horizon, greater support for democracy marks a welcome shift.
• São Paulo Governor João Doria has been set on running for president ever since he entered politics in 2016. However, while he has plenty going for him, voters are not impressed.
• Brazil’s Congress is arguably the world’s most fragmented. But Brazil’s answer to political fragmentation could lead to gridlocks.

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• #elections
• #lula