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Brazil kicks off political primaries

11 June 2014 04:18 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Brazil's political parties Tuesday launched their primaries to elect candidates for the upcoming general elections in October, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

According to the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE), parties have until June 30 to elect their candidates for the offices of the nation's president and vice president, as well as state governors and deputy governors, senators, and federal, state and local deputies.

Some 140 million Brazilians are eligible to vote on Oct. 5, with runoffs slated for Oct. 26 should they be needed.

Brazil's Democratic Labor Party (PDT) Tuesday unanimously voted to back President Dilma Rousseff's reelection bid, even though several party leaders had earlier said the PDT should elect a candidate from its own ranks.

The PDT was Rousseff's first political party, but she now belongs to the Workers' Party (PT), which will officially announce Rousseff as its candidate when it holds its primary convention on Saturday, June 21, in the capital Brasilia.

Another leading political force, the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) -- which has the largest majority in congress and is headed by Vice President Michel Temer -- also voted to back Rousseff, with Temer as her running mate, with 59 votes in favor and 41 against.

Temer said his party's alliance with the ruling PT will lead to "the PMDB occupying all political spaces, for the good of Brazilians."

Rousseff leads the polls as the favorite to win the presidential elections.

Brazil's Social Democratic Party (PSDB), the main opposition group, is set to hold its primary on Saturday, June 14, in Sao Paulo, where it is expected to name Senator Aecio Neves, who trails second in the polls, as its presidential candidate.

On June 28, also in Brasilia, the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB) is expected to name former Pernambuco state governor Eduardo Campos as its presidential candidate, along with former Environment minister Marina Silva as his running mate.

Smaller parties set to hold conventions in the capital this month include the Green Party (PV), the Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB) and the Popular Socialist Party (PPS).