Ciro Gomes, a presidential candidate nominated by the Democratic Labor Party, speaks next to his wife Giselle Bezerra during the party's national convention in Brasilia, on July 20, 2022. (EVARISTO SA / AFP)
A Gomes government would "save" state-controlled oil company Petrobras from being privatized, abolish presidential re-election, and do away with a constitutionally-mandated fiscal spending cap which, he said, favored Brazil's financial elite
BRASILIA – Ciro Gomes, a left-of-center former governor, kicked off Brazil's presidential election season on Wednesday, becoming the first candidate to officially announce his candidacy for the Oct 2 vote.
Gomes, 64, presented himself as an alternative to the polarized choice of far-right incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro or Workers Party leader and former two-term president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is leading in opinion polls.
Gomes, who is running third in most surveys with single-digit support, called Bolsonaro "incompetent" and said he was elected in 2018 by an electorate tired of 14 years of leftist government by Lula's party.
READ MORE: Brazil poll: Lula regains double-digit lead over Bolsonaro
"Lula and Bolsonaro want to turn this into an election devoid of debate and ideas," he said in a speech at the headquarters of the Democratic Labor Party.
The two could only offer the country a left-right polarization fed by personal accusation but had no proposals to pull Brazil from economic and political crisis, the former governor of Ceara state said.
A Gomes government would "save" state-controlled oil company Petrobras from being privatized, abolish presidential re-election, and do away with a constitutionally-mandated fiscal spending cap which, he said, favored Brazil's financial elite.