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Lula graft testimony fails to lift his Brazil presidential hopes

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SAO PAULO/BRASILIA: Former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s combative testimony before a federal judge this week did little to dismantle the graft case against him and improve his chances of securing a new term in office.


Lula, a founder of the leftist Workers Party (PT) that controlled Brazil’s presidency from 2003 until last year, can only run in next year’s presidential election if he avoids a conviction that is upheld on appeal.


Steady questioning by crusading Judge Sergio Moro on Wednesday uncovered no bombshell revelations to shake supporters’ steadfast belief that Lula is innocent and the victim of a political witch hunt. Nor did it do much to knock down corruption charges that stand between Lula and a third shot at the presidency.


“Lula left the courtroom the same size as he went in. His testimony will not legally save the former president,” said the centrist Green Party congressman Alvaro Dias.


“But politically, there was a repercussion that both fuels the PT’s followers and enrages his opponents, as he tried to transform a legal procedure into a political show.”


In recent polling, Lula sits atop surveys of potential candidates for the 2018 election but he also has the highest rejection rate, showing strong opposition to him among many Brazilians. Lula’s case is part of an investigation known as “Operation Car Wash” which unearthed how Brazilian construction firms paid billions in political kickbacks and bribes in return for contracts at state-run oil company Petrobras and other government-controlled companies.


The investigation has seen more than 90 prominent businessmen and politicians convicted. Scores of sitting federal congressmen across the political spectrum as well as one-third of conservative President Michel Temer’s cabinet are being investigated.


Prosecutors allege Lula was given a beach apartment by construction firm OAS in exchange for helping it win lucrative government contracts.


Lula portrayed himself during his testimony as a victim of a vengeful, elitist media that wanted to get him “dead or alive.” He also said Brazil’s upper class could not stomach his social welfare programmes that helped lift millions out of poverty during his eight years in office.


Still beloved by many working class Brazilians, Lula stepped down in 2011 with an 83 per cent approval rating.


— Reuters


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