BRASILIA, Brazil (Reuters):
THE GOVERNOR of Brazil's wealthiest and most influential state has declared his candidacy for the presidency, effectively kicking off the race 10 months before the election and putting pressure on other hopefuls to launch their own candidacies.
Sao Paulo state Governor Geraldo Alckmin of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party, or PSDB, is the first person to launch an official bid for the October election in which President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is expected to face a tough fight should he seek a second term.
"He's putting his name in the race," Alckmin's press office said in a statement on Monday after the governor told reporters the previous day he would step down before a March 31 deadline for elected officials to declare their candidacies.
The announcement is likely to put pressure on Sao Paulo Mayor José Serra, also of the PSDB, to decide whether to resign his post and run for president. Serra, 63, who lost to Lula in the 2002 presidential race, has so far said he will see out the remaining two and a half years of his term.
But with polls showing the mayor may have a better chance than Alckmin, 53, of unseating Lula, some political analysts say the PSDB might be more inclined to back another presidential bid by Serra.
According to two polls in December, Serra would easily beat Lula, 60, in next October's vote, while Alckmin would lose to the president in a second-round vote. Lula's popularity has been hit hard by corruption scandals and an economic slowdown.
Neither a PSDB nor a Lula victory is expected to shift Brazil from its track of market-friendly economic policies and reforms.
Alckmin, a former physician known as an efficient technocrat, will accept his party's consensus decision on its candidate and not run as an independent, his press office said. The PSDB will nominate its candidate at a party convention.
"He's made the point. This is a party decision, it depends on the party," the statement said.
Lula's advisers say he will decide whether to seek reelection before the March deadline. Leaders of the ruling Workers' Party see Lula as their best chance to retain the presidency and he is widely expected to run.
