The elected president of the left finds himself confronted with a more difficult than expected transition.
by Bruno Meyerfeld (Rio de Janeiro, correspondent)
Success of platform outside but big storms on the interior scene. While his visit to the COP27 of Charm El-Cheikh, in Egypt, aroused hope and enthusiasm, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva finds himself in contrast to a more difficult transition than expected in Brazil. Victorious against Jair Bolsonaro during the October 30 ballot, the elected president of the left has multiplied in recent days false notes and controversies.
Everything had started well. It only took a few days to the very official transitional firm to set up. Responsible for preparing the taking of function of Lula on 1 er next January, he has thirty-one technical groups and dozens of experts, placed under the authority of the elected vice-president, Geraldo Alckmin. From economics to health, including diplomacy or agriculture, all areas of government policy are taken into account.
But, after starting with fanfare, the “Lulist” quickly disillusioned. “This is the most complex transition since the fall of the dictatorship in 1985,” said one of the process coordinators. “Not all ministries are ready to collaborate. Some people drag on their feet and slow down,” he adds, pointing the ministry of family and human rights in particular, bastion of radical evangelicals.
Strong tensions in the coalition
Strong tensions also cross the victorious coalition. In order to obtain a majority at the Congress, Lula had to further expand his coalition, which could finally aggregate up to fourteen political parties, ranging from right to the far left. Between these heterogeneous allies, the battle for obtaining future ministries is fierce. Within the Lula workers (PT) party, some fear being dispossessed of the most prestigious portfolios.
The first serious pitfall of the transition concerned the budget. Lula has indeed announced his intention to free himself from the principle of capping public spending, inscribed in the Constitution. The objective: to negotiate with the congress an additional envelope of 175 billion reais (31 billion euros) in order to finance the revaluation of social minima. “Why should people suffer to guarantee such tax stability in this country?” Asked Lula on November 10, during a speech in Brasilia.
The market reaction was immediate. In the wake of the speech of the elected president, the markets panicked and the Sao Paulo scholarship fell by 3.35 %, while Real plunged against the dollar. Lula has attracted criticism from her right and center allies, as well as the press. “Lula has embraced the lowest demagoguery,” said the daily Folha of S. Paulo in a vitriol editorial, baptized “bad beginning”.
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