President of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva confirmed on Tuesday that Vice President Geraldo Alckmin will be his official running mate in the upcoming October elections. 'Comrade Alckmin will have to leave the Ministry of Development, Industry, and Trade (MDIC). He will have to leave it because he will be a candidate for vice president of the Republic again,' Lula stated. The announcement was made during a ministerial meeting at the Planalto Palace (the seat of the Executive) in Brasília, which effectively means the departure of at least 14 ministers from the Government of Brazil to run for elective offices, according to the Argentine News Agency (NA). Electoral legislation states that candidates holding positions within the Executive must leave their functions before April 4 to compete in the process, meaning they must leave the Government, with the exception of the president and vice president. This provision is established in the Ineligibility Law and requires stepping away from the position at least six months before the elections. In addition to heading the Vice Presidency of Brazil, Alckmin is the head of the MDIC, so he will have to leave his ministerial post to be able to run in the elections, whose first round will take place on October 4 of this year. Until a few weeks ago, it was speculated whether Alckmin would run for the governorship of São Paulo, the largest electoral college in the South American country, but now the candidate will be former Finance Minister Fernando Haddad, who left his post two weeks ago. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is the historic leader of the Workers' Party (PT), while Alckmin, former governor of São Paulo, is affiliated with the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB).
