BRASILIA, Brazil �� Brazil's imprisoned former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva met with aides Monday to plan his party's next moves after the country's top electoral court banned him from running to reclaim the office in October.
Former Sao Paulo Mayor Fernando Haddad, Lula's running mate and likely successor in as presidential candidate, visited the southern city of Curitiba, where Lula is serving a prison sentence of more than 12 years on charges of corruption and money laundering.
The main decision is when to nominate Haddad as the candidate of the Workers' Party. So far, the party's strategy had been for Lula to remain in the race as long as possible, and immediately after the court ruling it said it would appeal. But some party leaders say Lula should give up and endorse Haddad as presidential candidate to give him sufficient time to campaign.
At a news conference Sunday, Haddad showed no sign of changing strategy, repeating the party's line that Lula was illegally imprisoned to force him out of the election race.
With Lula out of the race and Haddad not yet confirmed as the new candidate, the campaign was in a legal limbo. Haddad appeared in a TV spot Sunday behind a mask of Lula, repeating the slogan "We're all Lula."
In its decision Saturday, the electoral court ruled that Lula could no longer appear as candidate in radio and TV ads. In practice, party ads are often subject to legal challenges before the court and the rules change accordingly.
