MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Lula da Silva calls for unity and warns followers about the “Piñera factor”

Using Piñera to scare dissident Brazilian ruling coalition voters

Brazilian president Lula da Silva called on his followers not to repeat what happened in Chile where the centre-left coalition lost the recent presidential election to the conservatives for having run with two candidates.

According to Lula da Silva, “events in Chile are evidence that to win we can’t be divided”.

He added that progressive and left wing parties should join into an only broad front in support of cabinet chief and candidate Dilma Rousseff from the president’s Workers Party.

Lula da Silva underlined he disagreed with lawmaker Ciro Gomes from the Brazilian Socialist Party, who already announced his presidential candidacy, and is expected to “suck” votes from the ruling Workers Party.

Meantime Brazil’s main unions’ federation agreed to support an only candidate for next October’s presidential election, according to the financial daily Valor Economico.

The agreement was proposed by Arthur Henrique, head of powerful unions federation closely linked to the Workers party of Lula da Silva and Rousseff.

The opposition Social democrat Brazilian party, PSDB, accused President Lula da Silva of having launched “an anticipated electoral campaign” taking advantage of the government’s machinery with “a clear electoral purpose”.

“Inaugurating public works every day seven days a week is geared to promote candidate Rousseff”, said a PSDB release.

In Chile the ruling coalition could not agree on an only consensus candidate and ended up with two: former president Eduardo Frei, and Marco Enriquez Ominami, son a famous Chilean Socialist leader who ran as independent attracting young voters.

The division was sufficient to ensure the victory of conservative Sebastián Piñera.