RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva criticized on Friday the opposition for being fault-finding and compared them to "bench players."

    "(The opposition) is like a player who is on the bench, saying he is a friend of the player in the field, but is rooting for others to be carded or get hurt, so he can take their places. The opposition's role is to find defects," Lula said.

    The remarks were made after the president concluded a visit to the country's northeastern region, where he inspected several government-initiated projects, including a huge interbasin transfer project in the Sao Francisco River.

    The opposition Brazilian Social Democracy Party accused the president of using the trip for electoral purposes, such as garnering support for his party's presidential candidate Dilma Rousseff who accompanied him during the trip.

    Rousseff was handpicked by Lula as candidate of the ruling Workers' Party in the 2010 presidential elections. But according to law, no campaigns are allowed before March 2010.

    Lula denied the opposition's accusation and defended his visit, saying the benefit of the projects would not be recognized until their completion.