WorldCURITIBA, Brazil (Reuters) - Jailed former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will throw in the towel on Tuesday in his legal battle to run in the Oct. 7 election and allow his Workers Party to announce running mate Fernando Haddad as its candidate, party sources told Reuters. Lula had hoped the Supreme Court would agree to an appeal for more time to switch the head of the Workers Party (PT) ticket after Brazil’s top electoral court last week banned him from running due to a corruption conviction and gave him 10 days to remove his name. Two sources with knowledge of Lula’s decision said Haddad will become the official candidate with an announcement outside the Federal Police headquarters in the southern city of Curitiba where the leftist icon has been jailed since April, serving a 12-year sentence for receiving bribes. Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right politician running on a law-and-order anti-corruption platform, leads the race with 24 percent, but is in intensive care due to a near fatal stabbing at a rally last week.

Source: Sunday Times September 11, 2018 05:03 UTC