Lula receives support from Simone Tebet, third in Brazil's first round

Brasilia, October 6 (RHC)-- In the run-up to the Brazilian elections on October 30th, Senator Simone Tebet has declared her support for the left-wing candidate Luis Inácio Lula da Silva.  In the first round on October 2nd, the center-right senator of the Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB) obtained 4.9 million votes (4.16 percent).

Tebet announced her support for Lula, saying: "I recognize his commitment to democracy and the Constitution, which I do not know in the current president (Jair Bolsonaro).  My support will not be for adhesion.  My support is for a Brazil that I dream will belong to everyone."

The senator's votes could be decisive for Lula, leader of the Workers' Party, in the second round on October 30th when he competes for the presidency with the right-wing (Liberal Party) Jair Bolsonaro.

Lula garnered 48.43 percent of the votes in the first round, while Bolsonaro came in with 43.20 percent. Neither candidate reached the absolute majority, half plus one of the valid votes (excluding blank and null votes).  The victory of the Workers' Party leader was officially confirmed on Tuesday by Brazil's Superior Electoral Court (TSE). 

The MDB has said that it will "charge the winner to respect the popular vote, the electoral process as a whole and, above all, the uncompromising defense of the 1988 Constitution and the Democratic Rule of Law."

The center-left Ciro Gomes of the Democratic Labor Party (PDT) has also expressed his support for Lula. Gomes came in fourth place after Tebet with 3.5 million votes (3 percent).   In addition, former president Fernando Henrique Cardoso has now also announced that he will support Lula da Silva in the second round.  "In this second round, I vote for a history of struggle for democracy and social inclusion.  I vote for Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva," Cardoso said on his social networks.