Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva denied on Wednesday that he intends to run for a third consecutive term in case his favored candidate, Chief of Staff Dilma Rousseff, has health problem to run in the 2010 presidential elections, local media reported.
"I do not discuss this hypothesis. First because there is no such thing as a third term, and second, because Dilma is all right," said President Lula.
Last month, Rousseff announced that she was undergoing chemotherapy to treat a lymphoma, which led to speculations on whether she will be healthy enough to run next year and who will be the Workers' Party's replacement candidate if her condition takes a turn for the worse, Xinhua reported.
Speculations have also been raised on the possibility of Lula running for a third consecutive term, which is currently forbidden by the Brazilian Constitution.
President Lula's comment was made two days after Rousseff was admitted to a hospital in Sao Paulo due to severe muscle pain in her legs, a collateral effect of her chemotherapy.
According to Rousseff's doctors, the pain was a common reaction to the chemotherapy. They assured that Rousseff is feeling better and said she is to be discharged from the hospital on Wednesday afternoon.
Rousseff canceled recently several public activities due to her health conditions.
President Lula started on Wednesday a trip to Turkey, the last leg of a week-long visit which also included Saudi Arabia and China. He is expected to return to Brazil on Saturday.
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