President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who is running for reelection, said on Sunday (27) that Brazil should abolish its public campaign fund, the Fundo Eleitoral. He made the remark in an interview with Canal Livre, the Sunday interview program of TV Band, recorded at the presidential residence in Brasília. According to InfoMoney, the network released an excerpt in advance and aired the full interview at 8 p.m. on BandNews TV and at 10 p.m. on Band.

The fund distributes public money from the federal budget to political parties to finance election campaigns. Lula said he had supported its creation, but argued that the current model, combined with the secret congressional budget, has completely rotted Brazilian politics. CNN Brasil reported the comments.

In his view, the way out is a broad political reform that would create parties with clear programs and platforms. InfoMoney reported that he linked the end of polarization in Brazil to changes in party rules and campaign financing. In the interview, he said:

"We have to put an end to what is happening in politics, which is a widespread promiscuity in politics. The moment we end that, with a dignified political reform, we will have politics healthy again for the Brazilian people."

Criticism of Congress and parties

Lula acknowledged that changing those rules runs into lawmakers themselves. "When it comes to political reform, you are touching the personal interest of each deputy, of each political party. We cannot continue with political promiscuity the way it is," he said. He added: "We cannot continue with the National Congress holding 50% of the federal budget."

The president cited his Workers' Party, the PT, as the only party of national character with a defined program and manifesto, according to CNN Brasil. He said other parties have become "a club" for financing campaigns, one that receives public party and campaign funds with no guarantee of control over how the money is spent. "If I don't do it, nobody will," he said.

The same interview produced his remarks on the Supreme Federal Court and the public debt. According to G1, Lula proposed creating a council to vet nominations to the court, Brazil's highest judicial body. The comments come in the final week of the campaign, with the first round of the election set for Sunday, October 4. Abolishing the fund, however, requires legislation: any change in campaign financing must pass Congress, where, by the president's own account, reform collides with each deputy's personal interest.