Lula da Silva, dubbed by Perry Anderson as the most successful politician of the modern era, would have almost certainly won Brazil’s October election if he were allowed to contest.

But with Lula still in prison on trumped up corruption charges, the neo-fascist Jair Bolsonaro, who is currently recovering in hospital after a near fatal stabbing, is leading in the polls. Lula’s Workers Party (PT) was in dire need of an alternative to contest him in the upcoming election. They have one now in the form of Fernando Haddad, a former Lula administration education minister and São Paulo mayor.

Haddad faces the immense challenge of filling Lula’s shoes, while Lula’s endorsement proved enough to elevate Dilma Rousseff — a little known figure before the 2010 election — into the presidency, after the soft coup that removed Dilma from power, his endorsement perhaps won’t be enough to propel Haddad into the presidency.