RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) 鈥� Brazilian Finance Minister Fernando Haddad, who is seen as the potential political heir of 80-year-old President , has resigned, according to a decision published in Brazil鈥檚 official gazette Friday.
Haddad, who lost against former President Jair Bolsonaro , said Thursday he will run for governor of Sao Paulo state. He will likely be up against current Gov. Tarc铆sio de Freitas, an ally of the embattled far-right ex-leader who has said he will run for reelection in the state.
Haddad was replaced by Dario Durigan, according to the decision signed by Lula. Durigan had been executive-secretary of the finance ministry.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 run in elections to bargain, I run to win,鈥� Haddad said Thursday during an event in the city of Sao Bernardo do Campo, in Sao Paulo state. 鈥淧olitical victory is always possible: you just have to present yourself with integrity and a strong plan.”
Haddad is unlikely to win against de Freitas, who is currently leading in the polls, but running for governor will give him more prominence on the national stage, said Paulo Henrique Cassimiro, a politics professor at Rio de Janeiro State University.
Lula’s Workers鈥� Party 鈥渋s really counting on him, including for Lula鈥檚 succession,鈥� said Cassimiro. 鈥淓ven if he loses, running brings a very large amount of political capital, raises the person鈥檚 profile and makes the candidate鈥檚 name more widely known.鈥�
In the event of a Lula victory 鈥� who announced last October 鈥� Haddad could return as finance minister, Cassimiro said.
Lula and Fl谩vio Bolsonaro, the 鈥檚 eldest son who has also said , are neck and neck in a hypothetical run-off vote between the pair, according to recent polls.
During the event in Sao Paulo on Thursday, Lula said the political situation in was 鈥渧ery grave.鈥�
鈥淚f we don鈥檛 bring forward the best people we have in each city and each state, and if we don鈥檛 take up the fight to defend democracy, we run the risk, through inaction, of handing democracy back once again to the fascists,鈥� the left-wing president said.
Haddad ran for president in 2018 because Lula was in prison. Lula spent 19 months behind bars, but the Supreme Court later annulled his convictions, paving the way for him to run against Bolsonaro in 2022, .
Bolsonaro is currently serving a for attempting a coup despite that electoral defeat.
While at the helm of Brazil鈥檚 finance ministry, Haddad pushed through huge changes in how the country , a proposal that had been in the works for decades, as well as a .
But his term as finance minister was not always smooth. In 2024, memes nicknaming Haddad 鈥楾axad鈥� 鈥� a pun combining tax and his surname 鈥� flooded the internet after a tariff on cheap international online shopping generated controversy.
Carla Beni, an economist at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, said that one of Durigan鈥檚 challenges will be managing the impacts of the Iran war on Brazil鈥檚 economy.
Last week, Lula’s government announced a temporary federal tax relief on diesel as around the world soar. The financial loss for Brazil’s public accounts will be compensated by a 12% tax on crude exports, the government said.
鈥淎 very intense war like the one we鈥檙e seeing in the Middle East is something quite complex for Durigan to manage,鈥� Beni said.
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