I ask the Companions announced today to work harder than ever before,” Lula said, four days ahead of the announcement of the new government’s first package of ministers. At a ceremony this Friday in Brasília, President-elect Fernando Haddad chose the Treasury, main economic portfolios, and Rui Costa for the Civil House, main political portfolios, two of the PT’s barons. But in an executive that is expected to be very heterogeneous, he also named an allied Justice and Security party member for Public Affairs, an independent for Foreign Affairs and a right-wing name for Defense.
Flávio Dino will be asked for changes in justice and especially in public safety, with the revision of the gun laws of the government of Jair Bolsonaro, Mauro Vieira will be asked for a radical shift in the diplomacy carried out by the outgoing government and José Múcio building bridges between the new executive and the armed forces.
“The previous government preferred bravura, talk, talk and talk, and govern little, without pyrotechnics, let’s announce the state in which Bolsonaro left the country,” Lula continued. “But according to a poll, 95% of people said they thought the government would work, we have no right to deceive the expectations of a country waiting for fresh air, waiting for the new country to be born from 1 January 2023,” he concluded.
Among all, the Treasury portfolio (or Finance, in Portugal) is considered a priority for signaling the essence of the project for the next four years. Haddad, a politician accused of failing to make a commitment to contain government spending, is causing the market to turn up its nose, which is why more palatable names need to be added to the stock market, the Ministry of Planning and the Industry portfolio , Commerce and Services follow . It is speculated that Pérsio Arida or André Lara Rezende, orthodox economists in the team that, led by Fernando Henrique Cardoso, established the real as the currency in the 1990s, are included. In the outgoing government, Paulo Guedes, Bolsonaro’s powerful minister, oversaw the three ministries under the Economy umbrella.
Forming a government is a challenge anywhere, but even more so in Brazil, a country with dozens of parties, 14 of which are traditional or temporary allies of the new government, and where the five regions – North, Northeast, Midwest, Southeast and South – are seeking space. Moreover, as it breaks completely with Bolsonaro’s predecessor, Lula’s should show signs of progressivism and diversity in the form of more female ministers and more black or indigenous ministers.
“For now there are only men, you must be wondering. Relax, in a few days you will see more women than men here and many people of African descent,” Lula said in the ad.
The Ministry of Cities is a dilemma for the elected official. Due to its generous budget, the portfolio that provides sanitary facilities, housing and local transport is immediately coveted by the PT. But old allies, PSB and PSOL, have already proposed the names of ministers to Lula, Márcio França and Guilherme Boulos respectively. The MDB, an important recent ally, is also taking note. And the “centrão”, a group of deputies who trade parliamentary support for power, has already put the ministry on the “Christmas gift” list. At the same time, the leaflet could be useful in helping to meet the quotas promised in the campaign for women, races and regions.
The puzzle is so complex that it even involves couples: as in the Civil House, the main portfolio for political coordination, appointed Lula Rui Costa, from the PT in Bahia, to the detriment of Wellington Dias, from the PT in Piauí, so as if not to disappoint the latter and the state, Piauí Deputy Rejane Dias, Wellington’s wife, may be nominated for the Ministry of Women’s Affairs.
With Lula, the task to accommodate the broad base of support is cut, hence the government should have 14 folders more than the previous one. In addition to the return of the Ministries of Culture and Sports and the birth of the indigenous peoples.
For each of the vacancies, including the last one, competition is fierce: Joênia Wapichana and Sonia Guajajara, both deputies of indigenous origin, are spoken for the ministry, the first would occupy a vacancy of Rede, the second of PSOL. If Guajajara is elected, PSOL will likely lose the Ministry of Cities, if Wapichana is elected, only one vacancy will remain for the network, as everything points to the environment, to which ecologist deputy Marina Silva and Senator Randolfe Rodrigues, the chief party names.
In Agriculture, the neo-ally PSD wants to impose Carlos Fávaro, but the appointment of Neri Geller, as he belongs to the PP, the party that supported Bolsonaro, could be more useful to Lula from a parliamentary point of view. Sílvio Almeida, university professor and black lawyer, for associating competence with diversity, is a candidate for social portfolio.
Since the campaign, Simone Tebet has been reserved for a ministry, which could be Education or Regional Development. And in Culture, alongside former minister Juca Ferreira and Senator Jandira Feghali, there is speculation about names of artists such as Chico César or Daniela Mercury.
Source: DN
