From president to legislator
Fernando Lugo says he might run for president in the next election. Or maybe not. Some people are looking into it and he's not sure. Some say yes, some say no. Could be he runs for senate, and he's asking around on that. He's not sure. He'll get back to you.
That made me think of José Manuel Zelaya, who says he's running for Congress in November primaries for the 2013 elections. His wife says she is running for president, but that is another story.
I would love to do some research on former Latin American presidents going into Congress, which has a long history. Given the reality of strong presidentialism, the reasons are not immediately apparent. Why go from very powerful to barely--or at least much less--powerful? Yet strong presidents like Chile's Arturo Alessandri did so.
Lugo and Zelaya present a real twist, given how they were removed. That reminds me of Fernando Collor, who was legitimately impeached but came back as an elected senator.
2 comments:
I was just about to say, "Collor!" and then, in the last sentence, there it was. However, there's also Jose Sarney, who's in the Senate, and Itamar Franco, who assumed the presidency after Collor resigned and who became governor of Minas Gerais after he left the presidency in 1994.
Historically for Brazil, Getulio Vargas also re-ran and was re-elected in 1950. And after serving as president, Juscelino Kubitschek was a senator in Brazil until the military dictatorship stripped him of his political rights.
The difference between Sarney and Collor is that Sarney has sought (and achieved) posts within the Congresso Nacional with significant political power while Collor hasn't. So I'm guessing Collor (unfortunately a fellow Alagoano) is there just to get economic benefits from his post as senator. I hope Gov. Teotonio beats him in the 2014 election.
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