The president-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will announce this Friday, 9, the holders of five ministries. Former São Paulo mayor Fernando Haddad will head the farm; the governor of Bahia, Rui Costa, will go to the Civil House; José Múcio Monteiro will be at the head of the Defence; the elected senator Flávio Dino will be Minister of Justice and the ambassador Mauro Vieira is the new Chancellor.
Lula decided to bring forward the ministers’ announcement by a few days in order to resolve impasses with the Chamber, with the Armed Forces – so much so that the commanders of the Army, Navy and Air Force should also be announced – and also to calm the market.
In reserved conversations, the president-elect stated that he needs to put political articulators in the field to negotiate the last stage of the Proposed Amendment to the Constitution (PEC) of the Transition. Approved in two rounds in the Senate, this Wednesday, 7, the text must still pass through the scrutiny of the Chamber.
The proposal increases the spending ceiling by R$ 145 billion, for a period of two years, and releases another R$ 23 billion for investments, through extraordinary revenues. In Lula’s assessment, the government cannot take any kind of risk with the processing of the PEC and needs to convey trust and legal certainty.
The ministers’ announcement, 23 days before their inauguration, may help put a brake on tidying up the confusing scenario of Congress at the moment when the Federal Supreme Court (STF) has begun to judge the constitutionality of the secret budget. Lula has already been warned that, if the Court overturns the practice, he could face problems with the PEC.
With the approval of the mayor, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), Centrão wants to wait for the result of the trial to analyze this proposal. The secret budget, revealed by the Estadãois the instrument by which President Jair Bolsonaro obtained political support in Congress, in exchange for the release of resources from parliamentary amendments.
Appeal
In a telephone conversation the day before yesterday, Lula told Lira that he had not made any move for the Supreme Court to overthrow the secret budget. He also guaranteed that the new government does not want to remove amendments from deputies and senators, but only adjust procedures. He acted like this out of fear that Centrão wants to reduce the period of increasing the spending ceiling from two years to one.
By participating yesterday in the meeting of the National Directorate of the PT, by videoconference, Lula stated that he intended to disclose the names of the ministers only after the graduation of him and the future vice-president Geraldo Alckmin, at the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), next Monday , 12. He argued, however, that he needed to speed up the articulations, implying that it was necessary to avoid conflicts with political and economic agents, in addition to the military.
Deputy Alexandre Padilha (PT-SP), former Minister of Health, should head the Institutional Relations Secretariat, a position he has already held, and help with political articulation. Haddad, in turn, had this Thursday, 8, a meeting with the current Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes. “I was very well received. We defined a work agenda starting next week and things are going well”, said the former mayor of São Paulo.
Hours later, when talking to PT deputies, Lula complained about not being able to use Granja do Torto in this transition of government because Guedes is living there. She said that she will continue to check in at the hotel for a period, even after taking office, on January 1, because the Federal Police will need to “sweep” the Palácio da Alvorada after Bolsonaro’s departure.
Command
Future Defense Minister José Múcio Monteiro agreed yesterday with Lula on the names of the soldiers who will form the top of the Armed Forces. O Estadão found that General Julio Cesar de Arruda will be the commander of the Army; Air Lieutenant Brigadier Marcelo Kanitz Damasceno, from the Air Force; and Admiral Marcos Sampaio Olsen, from the Navy. In the Army and FAB, the oldest were chosen, in the Navy, the second oldest. The commander of the General Staff of the Armed Forces should be the Admiral of the Squadron Renato Rodrigues de Aguiar Freire.
The choice was anticipated because Lula received information that the current holders of the Forces will leave their positions this month, as shown by the Estadão🇧🇷 The fact forced the president-elect to act quickly to avoid a military crisis at the beginning of the government.
In the first PT meeting after the election, the party approved a political declaration that defends overcoming the “bitter neoliberal recipe” defeated at the polls. At the meeting, representatives of internal currents sent the party president, deputy Gleisi Hoffmann, lists with nominations for ministries and secretariats (more information on the opposite page).
“Of course, the PT understands that the allies have to participate in the process, but obviously we also know how big we are, how big the PT is, how important it is in this process. It’s the biggest party in the coalition, it’s the president’s party, we also want to put our names on it”, said Gleisi. “We have staff available, people with capacity, with conditions,” he said.
Former chancellor Celso Amorim should remain in Planalto, in charge of the Secretariat for Strategic Affairs (SAE). Mauro Vieira, who will be the new Minister of Foreign Affairs, is very close to Amorim. Vieira was chancellor in the Dilma Rousseff government.
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