Brazilian opposition parties join forces against President Lula's candidate
8/10/2008 17:18
Brazil's two largest opposition parties announced yesterday their alliance
to compete with candidate Marta Suplicy from President Luiz Inacio Lula da
Silva's Workers' Party (PT) in the second round of the Sao Paulo municipal
elections.
The Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB), whose candidate
failed to proceed to the second round, declared their support for Democrats
candidate Gilberto Kassab in the second round of elections, slated for Oct.
26.
Kassab is running for a re-election. He took over as mayor in 2006 after
PSDB's Jose Serra left office to run for governor of Sao Paulo State.
In the
first round of election last Sunday, Kassab secured the first place after
winning 33 percent of the votes. Suplicy, who was the Sao Paulo mayor from 2000
to 2004, was placed the second, with 32 percent. The PSDB candidate Geraldo
Alckmin, also former governor of Sao Paulo State and presidential candidate,
garnered 22 percent of the votes.
DEM and PSDB are long-time allies that have
formed the base of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso's eight year
administration and a group which opposes President Lula.
In the 2004
municipal elections, the two parties formed a colligation which won the first
round.
Both DEM and PSDB had a sharp decline in the number of elected mayors
in this year's elections, according to experts.
A victory in Sao Paulo, the
country's most important city, is seen as the opposition's best chance to
maintain its influence in Brazil's political arena.
Xinhua
|
