Brazil: Workers' Party Launches Virtual Campaign to Elect Lula

Brazil's Workers' Party has launched a virtual campaign, which will serve as the bases for former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's 2018 presidential candidacy. The campaign, which will also be used to raise funds, was launched Wednesday and has already raised over US $20,000. 

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Donors are allowed to contribute between US $2 and US $285. With those wishing to participate having wait for almost 24 hours, according to O Povo.

Donations are scheduled to end on August 15, which is the deadline for all presidential hopefuls to register their candidacy.

In accordance with Brazil's Clean Record Law, Lula is disqualified from running for president, however, he can still register as a presidential candidate with the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE).

If the TSE rejects his registration, the current legislation states that all monies raised must be returned to donors.

Lula has been detained at the federal police headquarters in Curitiba since April 7 on corruption and money laundering charges.

Despite his conviction and imprisonment, events that many legal experts and observers attribute to lawfare and a salacious mainstream media campaign, Lula has topped every 2018 electoral poll conducted by Vox Populi, Ibope, Datafolha, Data Poder 360, Instituto Parana, the National Confederation of Transportation/MDA and Ipsos.

Lula's two terms in office were marked by a slew of social programs, lifting millions of Brazilians out of poverty and removing the country from the U.N. World Hunger Map. One of his most ambitious and successful programs is Family Allowance (Bolsa Familia). Launched in 2003, it provided stipends to families living below the poverty line. In turn, those families must prove that their children are attending school and have been vaccinated.