MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Former Brazilian president back in the political ring

Former Brazilian president Fernando Henrique Cardoso (1995/200) accused his successor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of having no proposals to end the problems and challenges facing the country.

"The King is naked" said Mr. Cardoso adding that the government is "incompetent, and the government is not seen so incompetent because President Lula is competent in talking to the people".

During a seminar of his party, Brazilian Social Democracy, in Sao Paulo this week, Mr. Cardoso launched his attack on the Lula administration and called on the opposition to criticize the ruling coalition.

"Without the need to be infamous, but without velvet gloves on, so the people can see that this administration has no proposals", underlined Mr. Cardoso who is considered a presidential hopeful for 2006. "Politics means you have an adversary. It's useless to keep quiet and remain at home. When you have an adversary, you face him", said the former president.

"We lost the ideological battle with the (ruling) Workers Party towards the end of my second mandate. We lost to an enemy that proved a paper tiger. And we remained afraid, but we can't go on feeling afraid of a paper tiger", blasted Mr. Cardoso.

Further on he argued that Mr. Lula da Silva "has no new proposal to face the social challenge, violence, education, wealth concentration or for attracting productive investments".

"They are only interested in a dominant and hegemonic system, but the October municipal elections proved this will not be the case because the Brazilian society is more than that, it's disperse, fragmented with contradictory interests, and Mr. Lula does not know how to face the situation", highlighted Mr. Cardoso, whose opposition coalition defeated the ruling party in two of its strongholds, the cities of Sao Paulo and Porto Alegre.