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Brazilian developments
2018.01.24 21:27:35 CET
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This is the first time I'm posting about Brazil and politics here. I
usually try to avoid the topic because it usually devolves into
ideology discussions and I'm too pragmatic to follow an ideology. In
today's case I decided to open an exception.
I don't know if you know what is happening in Brazil, but this year
we'll have presidential elections and today something which changed
the whole political landscape happened. Luis Inácio da Silva, most
commonly known as Lula, former president for two terms between 2003
and 2011, had his criminal conviction confirmed by the appropriate
appeals court. This means he will not be run for office in the
upcoming elections (unless the electoral court decides otherwise, but
this is extremely unlikely).
According to recent polls, Lula was the favorite to win the
elections, so it's expected this decision will not be warmly received
by many. Honestly, I think it's a good one.
I have no dreams this will change the rampant corruption in Brazil,
but I think this is a good opportunity for the left to reinvent
itself. Lula is an extremely polarizing candidate and besides all the
troublesome comments he made (for example, saying he would persecute
the media outlets which criticized him if he was in office again), he
would only split society even further. Now it is a good time for the
left to re-strategize, separate itself from popular idols and token
politicians, and build a real government plan for future elections.
Unfortunately, the more I think about this the more I realize it is
also a dream. The reaction will be the usual, the Workers' Party (PT)
will cry injustice and try to run a half-assed candidate with a
half-assed project. And what worries me is they will loose to a crazy
extreme right-wing populist candidate.