From prison to presidency, Brazil’s Lula could make stunning political comeback

Brazilians vote on Sunday, picking between populist President Jair Bolsonaro and the leftist ‘Lula’ – a man who was in jail at the time of the last election, writes David Harding

Lula greets supporters during a rally in Curitiba (Reuters)

It could be one of the most dramatic of all political rehabilitations.

During the last Brazilian general election in 2018, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was in a prison cell, serving a 12-year sentence on corruption charges as part of the “Car Wash” scandal which shook the foundations of Brazilian politics, threatened to end his career, and paved the way for the controversial, far-right Jair Bolsonaro to triumph in an unlikely victory.

This Sunday, “Lula” could be confirmed as the country’s next president and, to cap the biggest of all comebacks for the left-winger, it would be at the expense of his chief political rival, Bolsonaro in a run-off.