It's time to trust Lula's choices.

Between the usual game of trickery played by the TSE (Superior Electoral Court) and the multiple pressures that accelerate the electoral process and the forging of alliances, Fernando Haddad's name has been gaining strength within the PT (Workers' Party) in recent hours to fill the vice-presidential candidate slot on the ticket with President Lula.

The TSE's move to release a 'resolution' to expedite the nomination of the vice-presidential candidate, clearly aimed at disrupting the PT's efforts—which are beginning to reap very strong results from party coordination—had an effect and forced the progressive camp to act more quickly.

Nobody wants to risk challenging a candidacy, even knowing that the TSE's 'resolution' is legally weak (and could be overturned by a lawsuit from the parties). The fact is that there is no longer legal certainty in the country. The judicial system and even the electoral court have shown that they are not playing around when it comes to Lula. They are truly committed to preventing the candidacy of the absolute leader in the polls.

It is a combination of fear, wickedness, opportunism, and utter shamelessness, both on the part of his peers who still produce some kind of law, and of history, which will exact a heavy price for the unprecedented collection of judicial maneuvers and non-compliance with the decisions of sovereign judges.

As usual, however, the current climate, rife with irregularities, tends to exact a price in real time for violations of the law and the constitution. The great 'cocktail maker' of democracy is once again making light lemonade with the sour lemon of exceptional courts.

Let's break it down. Scene 1: the TSE's magic move forced not only the PT, but all parties to scramble to find a vice-presidential candidate – which generated unprecedented panic among candidates and confused the entire alliance landscape.

Scene 2: So accustomed to adversity, Lula and the PT had the composure and tranquility to draw up scenarios for both situations: the immediate nomination of a vice-presidential candidate or a nomination according to the 'real' understanding of the TSE (Superior Electoral Court), on the day of the candidacy registration.

The TSE's attempt, therefore, was good, but it harmed the other candidates, who were less 'genius' in the art of forging alliances or, at least, more weakened, since, after Temer, there is also a generalized crisis for the 'role' of vice-president.

In other words: the more the PT (Workers' Party) is persecuted by the most discredited institutions in history, the stronger it becomes; this is almost a mathematical logic.

It is in this electoral chess game that Fernando Haddad enters, perhaps the most concretely and politically promising politician the country has seen since Lula. Haddad accumulates many meanings at this moment: he is the anti-Doria (and Doria has plunged into record rejection and repulsion after the disaster that was his 'administration' in the capital of São Paulo), he is the voice of restraint and consensus, he is an internationally awarded manager and he is, nothing more and nothing less than the national coordinator of Lula's government program.

Haddad has been a national name since 2005, when he was appointed Minister of Education and spearheaded a revolution in the sector. The Northeast knows Haddad – campaign strategists shouldn't worry about that.

But there is much more to say about Fernando Haddad.

Regarding simulations with Haddad at the head of the ticket and not as vice-president, a relevant indicator in scenarios so marked by legal uncertainties, Haddad reaches a level of 5%, according to polls by Datafolha and the Paraná Pesquisas Institute conducted in mid-May.

In an extreme situation where Lula needs to be replaced in this war-like scenario, and where all projections must be considered, both internal and external, Haddad is Lula's own transfiguration: he has the potential to inherit the votes, as the confusing polls themselves have already demonstrated.

The moment, however, calls for growth. Haddad has won the trust of the party's executive committee and enjoys considerable prestige on social media and among voters in São Paulo, who have realized the suicide they committed by trading a mayor of Fernando Haddad's caliber for an outright opportunist like João Doria.

The rhetoric of rejection towards Doria's administration greatly favors Fernando Haddad as a key element in attracting significant electoral support in the largest electoral district in the country, which is the state of São Paulo.

Another element that endorses Haddad as a dream vice-presidential candidate for the PT to reorganize its campaign after the Marília Arraes hurricane is the quality of the government program that he coordinated and aligned with Lula and party leaders.

By coordinating the PT's program and appearing at the forefront of the candidacy, confronting the hostile press to defend the core principles of the future government's plan, with a clear ability to engage in heavy confrontation with monopolistic media outlets, Haddad caught the attention of the entire party spectrum, from the rank and file to the local leadership: he goes on the offensive without the slightest hesitation.

The PT's government program under Haddad's leadership is a new phenomenon in the electoral landscape. It is dense, detailed, courageous, and further to the left than previous programs. The technical diction of an intellectual who also has his feet firmly planted in the political struggle (who knows Karl Marx, Max Weber, and the Frankfurt School like few others), in addition to being a political figure who has promoted a remarkable leap in quality and inclusion in education in the country, makes all the difference when it comes to assertive posture and discursive skill in the violent landscape of Brazilian political debate.

Lula knows this and, therefore, has confidence in Haddad to confront the system, not just to be a highly qualified figure.

Fernando Haddad was one of those ministers who also impressed Lula with his work capacity and courage to erode the power niches established for centuries in the world of Brazilian education. Haddad challenged powerful interests and forged a new reality in our academic universe, from preschool to postgraduate studies.

Based on all these considerations and perceptions, Fernando Haddad is on the verge of taking on the most important vice-presidential candidacy in the country's history. As I write this article, the possibility that this decision has already been made is not small.

The moment calls for a scenario in which the words 'trust' and 'loyalty' prevail and take center stage in political meaning. Lula trusts Haddad, and now is the time for voters to trust Lula.

Lula is taking his steps with immense responsibility from within a political prison, and from the outside, it remains for all of us to observe with due critical sense, but also with due gratitude and trust, the chess moves of one of the world's greatest political strategists.  

It's time to trust Lula's choices.