Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told Brazilian
television on Thursday that he wanted a thorough investigation into
his alleged election campaign scandal.
"I want to know who paid for it. I want to know what is in this
dossier, and why it was worth so much money. I demand that the
Federal Police go deep into the investigation," the president
said.
Lula's remarks came one day after Ricardo Berzoini, president of
the ruling Labor Party, stepped down as Lula's election campaign
manager amid a scandal over his alleged role in a smear campaign
against an opposition politician.
The scandal emerged over the weekend after police arrested an
attorney who was allegedly hired by Lula's party to buy an
incriminating dossier against Jose Serra of the opposition
Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB).
Serra was favored to win the Sao Paulo state governor election
running as candidate of the PSDB, the main opponent of Aloizio
Mercadante, of Lula's Labor Party.
"I am in an absolutely comfortable situation in the campaign.
With ten days to go until the elections. I do not know why someone
would want a dossier against the candidate for Sao Paulo state
government," Lula told television.
Brazil's top electoral court, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal,
has launched an investigation into the issue, while preparations
for the Oct. 1 general election continue.
If Lula was found guilty, he, together with his running partner
Vice President Jose Alencar, would be barred from standing, the
court said on its website.
However, the investigation was unlikely to be closed before the
election, which meant that if Lula was re-elected but later found
guilty, he could still lose his presidency, the tribunal said,
adding that the runner-up in the election would be declared
president of Brazil.
According to a previous opinion poll conducted by the Brazilian
Institute of Public Opinion and Statistics (Ibope), up to 50
percent of Brazilian voters intended to re-elect Lula for another
term.
He was followed by former Sao Paulo state governor Geraldo
Alckmin, of the PSDB, with 29 percent.
Ibope interviewed 2,002 people on Sept. 9-11 in 141 Brazilian
towns.
(Xinhua News Agency September 22, 2006)
