UPDATE - Bolsonaro Says After Lula's Political Rights Restored That People Don't Want Him President

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 09th March, 2021) Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro says the people of his country are against former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva running in the 2022 presidential election.

"... the Brazilian people do not want to have a candidate like that [Lula] in 2022," Bolsonaro told reporters on Monday, as quoted by the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper.

Earlier on Monday, a Federal supreme court judge overturned all criminal convictions against Lula and restored his political rights, making it possible for the former president to be a candidate in the next elections.

Bolsonaro said everyone was surprised by the supreme court judge's decision and accused Judge Edson Fachin of having strong ties with the Workers' Party (PT), of which Lula is a member.

Lula was president of Brazil between January 1, 2003- January 1, 2011. He was imprisoned in 2018 on disputed corruption charges. The sentence was handed down by controversial judge Sergio Moro who later jointed Bolsonaro's cabinet as justice minister. Although Lula was released from prison in November 2019, he still remained stripped of his political rights.