Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has said he will not compete for a third term in the 2010 election.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva gestures as he addresses a news conference during at a summit of leaders from Latin American and Caribbean nations in Costa do Sauipe Dec. 17, 2008. Lula has said he will not compete for a third term in the 2010 election.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

Running again would require an amendment to Brazil’s constitution, which does not allow a third presidential term.

Lula said he did not intend to be elected senator or congressman either, while dismissing suggestions that he might run again in 2014 as “absurd.”

“An ex-president must stay quiet, and only talk when he is called,” he told the reporters.

Meanwhile, Lula reaffirmed his support for the candidacy of Dilma Roussef, minister-in-chief of the Civilian Household of the Presidency, for the 2010 presidential elections.

Roussef is the most qualified person to succeed him, the president said.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet