BRASILIA: Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva is set to become the president of Brazil for the third time on Sunday, in a ceremony subbed by outgoing president Jair Bolsonaro, highlighting the deep divisions the senior leftist politician inherits.
The inauguration will cap a remarkable political comeback for 77-year-old Lula, who is back in the presidential palace in Brasilia less than 5 years after being jailed on controversial, since-quelled corruption charges.
The oath-taking ceremony will be held in exceptionally tight security in the capital. Nearly 8000 police—including over 1000 federal officers, a record deployment for a presidential oath-taking in Brazil— will provide security.
The tight security measures come after a supporter of Bolsonaro was apprehended last week for planting a tanker truck rigged with improvised device in the vicinity the Brasilia airport, a plot he said aimed to create chaos in the country.
Bolsonaro Leaves Brazil for Florida
Bolosonaro himself left Brazil for Florida, United States, reportedly to avoid the tradition of handing over the presidential sash to his staunch political enemy.
The snub could not dampen the party spirit for the new president and 300000 people expected at the ceremony.
Thousands of Lula Da Silva’s supporters have been rushing to the capital, traveling by car, plane and even bicycle to go camping near the marvelous Esplanade of Ministers.
Foreign dignitaries including seventeen heads of state will also participate in the ceremony, where Lula who previously ruled the country through a watershed boom period of 2002-2010, will take oath for a new 4-year tenure.
They include the presidents of several Latin American countries, Portugal, Germany and the king of Spain.
After the oath-taking ceremony in Congress, the president will travel by car, traditionally a convertible black Rolls Royce—though officials said the plan could be changed for security reasons— to the capital’s ultra-modern presidential palace, the Planalto.
There he will receive the diamond-and gold – embroidered presidential slash.
The ceremony’s organizers have maintained a mystery around who will substitute Bolsonaro in giving the slash to Lula.
It will be the first time since the end of the 1965-1985 military dictatorship in Brazil that an incoming leader does not receive the green-and-yellow presidential slash from his predecessor. – AFP/APP
