(Reuters) – President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said this Thursday that he wants Finance Minister Fernando Haddad to be a candidate in the 2026 election, while also stating that the decision will be up to Haddad.
‘Haddad is of age and has the biography to decide what he wants to do. If you ask me if I would like him to be (candidate), I would like him to be. I don’t know, I need to ask him’, said Lula at a press conference in Brasília.
Lula was also asked whether he would keep the Minister of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services, Geraldo Alckmin, as vice-president on his ticket next year, and said he would still have to talk to him to find out his intentions.
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At the same time, Lula said it is important for his political field to have strong candidates both for the government of São Paulo — which Alckmin has already commanded more than once and which Haddad ran in 2022 — and for a seat in the Senate for the State.
In the interview, Lula also said he had a good relationship with both the president of the Senate, Davi Alcolumbre (União-AP) — whom he called a ‘friend’ — and with the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Hugo Motta (Republicanos-PB).
