Campos says he prays in a different church than Lula.

PE247 - The governor of Pernambuco and potential candidate for President of the Republic for the PSB, Eduardo Campos, participated for the first time in a popular interview program on national television. The governor's participation in the Programa do Ratinho, broadcast on Thursday night (29) by SBT, was marked by criticism of the government of President Dilma Rousseff (PT) and by the approach of next year's election. Asked whether he will be a candidate or not, Campos said loudly and clearly that he will only deal with the 2014 elections in 2014, but that he will return to the program as soon as he makes a decision, a sign that he should launch himself in the race towards the Palácio do Planalto.

According to Campos, the support for Dilma was to fulfill a personal request from former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. “I voted for Dilma because it was an appeal that President Lula made for us to have only one candidate, and we closed the deal with her support. But I think that, often, the lack of political skill and dialogue is perceived by politicians within the party. You have to have leadership, but also the ability to listen,” he stated. When asked which aspects of President Dilma's government deserved applause, the governor was emphatic: “For social programs, such as Minha Casa, Minha Vida (My House, My Life),” he emphasized.

Eduardo also said that, at the moment, there is still no clear definition of who can or cannot be a candidate in 2014. "I think it's difficult to say now who is out; everyone could be in because the picture isn't defined. The 2014 election is an open election. Health, for example, will be one of the most discussed issues," he assessed.

Regarding the possibility of his candidacy affecting his personal relationship with Lula, Campos recalled that they had been on opposing sides in other elections and that this did not affect their friendship. Using the Recife mayoral election as an example, when Lula supported the Workers' Party senator Humberto Costa, and he supported the former Secretary of Economic Development, Geraldo Júlio (PSB), Geraldo emerged victorious, forcing the Workers' Party to lose the mayoralty of the Pernambuco capital after 12 years in charge of the municipal executive. "A friend can have one church and we another. There's no problem with that," he exemplified.

Campos, however, avoided answering whether he could count on the former president's support in a possible second round of next year's presidential race. "I'm not going to do that to my friend," he deflected.