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SAO PAULO: Brazil’s leftist former leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is leading the presidential race, announced on Tuesday (June 21) that his priorities in power would be social policy and protecting the Amazon.
Polls show Brazil’s far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro is trailing Lula ahead of October’s presidential election.
“We’re going to have to rebuild this country, building on solid foundations,” Lula said at a ceremony in Sao Paulo as he unveiled a 121-point program to “put Brazil back on track.”
Polls show that Lula would prefer Bolsonaro in the first round with 48 percent versus 27 percent.
According to Lula’s program, his government’s first priority would be to “improve the living conditions of the vast majority of the Brazilian population”, including combating hunger and the decline in purchasing power.
Tackling inflation, which hit 11.73 percent year-on-year in May, is also high on his agenda, said Lula, who accused Bolsonaro of “abandoning” the fight against rising prices.
Lula, who is seeking a third term after serving as president from 2003 to 2010, added that it was “imperative to defend the Amazon” and oppose the “policy of destruction” set out by Bolsonaro.
“We will fight environmental crimes … and we will ensure the protection of indigenous rights and territories from the advance of predatory activities such as illegal gold mining and logging,” he said.
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