Luis Inácio Lula da Silva, the former head of Brazil, serving a prison sentence for corruption, became the leader of the survey of the popularity of presidential candidates. 37.3% of respondents expressed sympathy for da Silva.
Still the final decision is made whether to participate in the presidential race, however, he retains a large lead over the opponent Gaira Bolsonaro, which received the support of 18.3%. The candidate from” green ” Marina Silva takes the third line with 5,6%.
The survey results were received a few days after the United Nations decided that Lula da Silva should be able to campaign in prison, as his legal appeals are still ongoing, according to Newsweek.
The UN human rights Committee has issued a statement to the Brazilian authorities requesting that all necessary measures be taken to ensure that Lula is able to exercise and exercise his political rights while he is in prison as a candidate for the 2018 presidential election.
The statement further stated that ” the Committee also asked Brazil not to prevent it from running for election in 2018 until its appeals to the courts are completed in a fair trial.”
The Brazilian government reacted to this decision saying: “the conclusions of the Committee have the character of recommendations and do not have the binding character of the action”.
Lula da Silva, who served as President of Brazil from 2003 to 2010, is the leader of the Labour party. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison in April on corruption charges after receiving a $ 2.2 million apartment.
“I will prove my innocence. Do what you want, the powerful can kill one, two or 100 roses. But they will never be able to stop the arrival of spring, ” said Lula to his colleagues before surrendering to the authorities.
