Power couple

摘要

A year before their next presidential election, Brazilians have learned the names they can expect to see on the ballot paper-and a familiar figure might be missing. On October 3rd the country's highest electoral court refused to register the Sus-tainability Network, a party being set up by Marina Silva, a popular environmental activist and former minister, on the ground that it had narrowly failed to submit the 492,000 supporting signatures that new parties must collect. The repercussions have already been dramatic. Ms Silva came third in the presidential race in 2010, with 19.6m votes. Until recently she had been polling behind only the incumbent, Dilma Rousseff, who is expected to seek a second term next year. After the ruling Ms Silva faced an unpleasant choice. Parties must be registered a year before elections, and can nominate only candidates who are members on that date. So she had either hurriedly to join one of the country's many small parties and seek its nomination, or abandon the race.