BRASILIA, Brazil, Oct. 11 (UPI) -- One of Brazil's leading opposition parties said it would break ranks from its coalition and nominate its own candidatefor the presidency in 2006.
The president of the right-wing Liberal Front Party, or PFL, Sen. Jorge Bornhausen, told reporters the PFL wants "its own candidate for the Presidency of the Republic" to challenge President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his leftist Workers' Party. Bornhausen identified two possible candidates: former Vice President Marco Maciel and current Rio de Janeiro Mayor Cesar Maia, who last week handily won his reelection bid in the famous seaside city.
Fellow leading opposition parties -- Social Democrats and the Democratic Labor Party -- have yet to react to the proclamation and will likely not do so until after Tuesday's Brazilian national holiday commemorating Christopher Columbus.
Brazilian political parties -- of which there are more than 20 -- often form coalitions to strengthen their shared positions in the Congress and particularly at the executive level.
Bornhausen's decision could prove detrimental to the coalition, according to some analysts, who postulate the PFL may be alienating other political parties with its impatience.
