Rio mayoral candidate does not want Lula in campaign

Rio de Janeiro mayoral candidate Marcelo Freixo, of the Socialism and Freedom Party (PSOL), said Wednesday (Oct. 5) he accepts the support from the Workers' Party (PT), adding, however, that he does not find it necessary to have the presence of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in his campaign, arguing that “it makes no sense to bring great national figures” to local elections.

Freixo, a 49-year-old state deputy, surprised the city by reaching the runoff with a total 553,424 votes, thus defeating Pedro Paulo, the hopeful backed by Rio's current Mayor Eduardo Paes, of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), of which President Michel Temer is also a member.

His adversary, 58-year-old Senator Marcelo Crivella, of the Brazilian Republican Party (PRB) garnered an 842,201 vote count. A bishop at the Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus, or Universal Church, as it is known in English, Crivella is a member of the so-called Evangelical base in Congress, which opposes major strides in the legislation on human rights, especially regarding the LGBT community. Despite his conservative profile, Crivella backed Lula's administration, and was minister of fishing under former President Dilma Rousseff.

In his attempt to beat Crivella, Freixo is seeking support from left-wing parties such as the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB), and the Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB), the Popular Socialist Party (PPS), and the Green Party (PV). “We can see now a significant progressive front committed to democracy,” Freixo told journalists on Wednesday (5).

*Olga Bardawil contributed to this article.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira