Overview
- The president announced his bid in Jakarta after talks with Indonesia’s Prabowo Subianto, touting energy at 80 and planning to continue to Malaysia for the ASEAN summit, where a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump has been reported as possible amid tariff tensions.
- Brazil’s constitution allows only two consecutive terms, enabling a nonconsecutive run, and the next presidential vote is scheduled for October 4, 2026.
- Jair Bolsonaro is barred from office until 2030 and was sentenced to 27 years for an attempted coup, prompting the right to consider figures such as Tarcisio de Freitas, Romeu Zema and Ronaldo Caiado.
- Recent polling shows Lula leading multiple scenarios even as roughly half of voters disapprove of his administration.
- Lula’s health remains under watch after emergency surgery for a cerebral hemorrhage late last year, though he insists he is fit to serve.