BRAZIL: Lula Is PT's Presidential Candidate In 2018, Says Party Chairwoman

(RTTNews) - Former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is the Workers Party (PT) candidate for the presidential election in the country next year, said Senator Gleisi Hoffman, the party's chairwoman.

"There is no plan B, even if the federal justice confirms the ruling of the judge Sérgio Moro," which could block Lula's candidacy, Gleisi said during a rally in the Rio Grande do Sul state, in Southern Brazil.

"We will also face a long judicial road and the appealing to the Federal Supreme Court, which already has several decisions authorizing candidates sentenced in the second instance to run," Gleise said. "Lula is our candidate for president in 2018. There is no other plan."

The PT chairwoman also stressed that the party is not making an alliance with the PMDB and other parties that supported the impeachment of former President Dilma Rousseff.

"We intend to build a center-left front bringing together all the forces and political leaders who have fought against the coup d'Etat and continue to fight for democracy and the rights that are being attacked by the [Michel] Temer administration," she said.