By Ricardo Brito, Gabriel Araujo and Luciana Magalhaes
BRASILIA/SAO PAULO, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, the leading right-wing challenger to leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in a presidential election in October, named conservative Congressman Alfredo Gaspar as his running mate on Wednesday in a surprise choice that underscored his campaign's challenges.
The announcement follows weeks of uncertainty over Bolsonaro's choice, as the senator struggled to build alliances
beyond his own Liberal Party (PL) and failed in an attempt to add a woman to the vice-presidential slot to broaden support.
A PL member, the 55-year-old Gaspar has represented the northeastern state of Alagoas in the lower house of Congress since 2023. He previously served as Alagoas' secretary of public security.
"I am a simple person, but one willing to fight. I will have the courage for us to confront corruption, organized crime and this shattered economy," Gaspar said at an event in Brasilia. "We will move beyond rhetoric and tackle the nation's problems."
Gaspar led a probe in Congress into the National Social Security Institute (INSS), the government agency responsible for Brazil's public pension and social security system.
Lula's son, Fabio Luis Lula da Silva, is being investigated over allegations he received improper payments linked to a scheme involving deductions from pensions administered by the INSS. Lula's son has denied the allegations.
"He has the authority to discuss a subject that makes Lula uncomfortable. He also talks a lot about public safety," said Lucas de Aragao, a partner at political consultancy Arko Advice, adding that Gaspar, who announced a Senate campaign on Tuesday, was a surprise pick.
Valdemar Costa Neto, a congressman and the head of Bolsonaro's party, told Reuters that the PL had been discussing Gaspar as the vice-presidential pick for months.
"We always imagined that he was the best candidate, but that it would be very important for us not to even mention this to him, so he wouldn't say anything, just letting things play out the way they did," he said.
INTERNAL DIVISIONS
Senator Bolsonaro, the son of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro, had previously floated the idea of choosing a woman as his running mate amid a public falling out with his stepmother, former first lady Michelle Bolsonaro. The dispute, now resolved, threatened to alienate some female voters.
Some candidates touted by the senator for the role — such as Senator Tereza Cristina and Daniella Marques, the former head of state-owned savings bank Caixa Economica Federal — failed to secure support from their parties to join the ticket.
Despite leaning to the right, some major Brazilian parties, including Cristina's Progressives and Marques' Republicans, have declined to nationally endorse Bolsonaro.
Those parties have calculated that remaining neutral in the presidential race is the best strategy to maximize their representation in Congress, a move aimed at appealing to voters who oppose Flavio Bolsonaro in northeastern Brazil and other Lula strongholds, analysts said.
Choosing Gaspar provides Senator Bolsonaro with a "political gesture" that can help him build bridges with politicians in the northeast, said Rafael Favetti, a Brasilia-based political analyst, adding that the PL presidential candidate's interest in choosing a woman faded after he mended his relationship with his stepmother.
(Reporting by Ricardo Brito in Brasilia and Gabriel Araujo and Luciana Magalhaes in Sao Paulo; Additional reporting by Isabel Teles; Editing by Brendan O'Boyle and Paul Simao)
