'They can't unseat Lula at the ballot box, so they resort to backroom deals.'

Rio Grande do Sul 247 - Federal deputy Marco Maia (PT-RS) stated that the entire process against former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva "makes it clear that he is paying the price for wanting the people to achieve the life they so longed for."

"The difference between a real government (Lula) and an illegitimate government (Temer) has never been so clear! They want to overthrow Lula by any means necessary. They know they will never succeed at the ballot box, so they resorted to backroom deals!", he said.

Under the Temer government, the country ended 2017 with more cuts than hirings, and had its credit rating downgraded twice this year (2018) by two risk agencies (Standard & Poor's e FitchIn addition to promoting deep cuts to social rights, Brazil has more than 13 million unemployed people alongside profound social setbacks, which are expected to worsen with the so-called 'Spending Cap,' a proposal enacted by the government that limits one year's investment to that of the previous year, adjusted for inflation, for 20 years. In other words, it freezes public investment.

Meanwhile, former president Lula, already considered the best president in the country's history according to official polls, leads in voting intentions with 33%, according to an Ibope poll released at the end of last month. In second place was federal deputy Jair Bolsonaro (PSL-RJ) with 15%, followed by former senator Marina Silva, of the Rede party (7%). 

Next come Geraldo Alckmin (PSDB) and Ciro Gomes (PDT), with 4% each. Álvaro Dias (Podemos) reached 2%. The presidential candidates who reached 1% were Fernando Collor de Mello (PTC), Manuela D'Ávila (PC do B), Levy Fidelix (PRTB), and Flávio Rocha (PRB) – the latter has already withdrawn his candidacy. João Goulart Filho received 0%; others with less than 1% of the votes totaled 2%; blank and null votes, 22%, and those who did not know or did not answer, 6%.