CIRO Gomes, a former ally of Brazil’s leftist ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, announced his candidacy yesterday for October’s presidential elections, for which he is polling in a distant third place.

While the centre-leftist Gomes, 64, appears unlikely to pose a serious challenge to Lula or far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro, analysts say he could prove to be a kingmaker.

At a ceremony in Brasilia, Gomes became the first person to officially register his candidacy for president.

“Despite all their differences, they (Lula and Bolsonaro) are very similar… I seek to be completely different, I want to unite the country around a new project and not around my personality” said Gomes of the Democratic Labour Party.

Gomes is a former mayor, governor, lawmaker and government minister.

This will be his fourth presidential run, though he has never made it to a second round.

In an opinion poll in June, only 8% of respondents said they intended to vote for Gomes, with 47% going to Lula and 28% to Bolsonaro.

While not enough to win, his support could prevent a first-round victory – which requires 50% – for Lula or Bolsonaro by splitting the vote.

In 2018, Gomes got 12.47% of the first round vote. He decided not to throw his support behind either Bolsonaro or Lula’s then-protege Fernando Haddad – a move analysts say contributed to the far-right politician’s victory.

For this year’s eventual runoff, Gomes “has not yet given any statement indicating what his position will be among the candidates,” Adriano Laureno, an analyst at the Prospectiva consulting firm, told AFP.

“But after the criticism he received in 2018, it is very unlikely that he will remain neutral.”

Lula is set to officially launch his candidacy with a ceremony in Sao Paulo today, followed by Bolsonaro in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday. – AFP, July 21, 2022.