Celso Sabino: Centrão is becoming a positive thing – 07/18/2023 – Politics

The newly appointed Minister of Tourism, Celso Sabino (União Brasil-PA), says that the image of the center is no longer pejorative and now represents consideration in a politically polarized environment.

Sabino is allied with the leader of the centrão, the mayor, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), and takes over the portfolio after weeks of political negotiations between the parliamentary group and President Lula (PT).

“Today, the political center has great importance and relevance for any ruler,” said the minister in an interview with Sheet.

For him, the political composition with congressional parties is natural to democracy and amendments are constitutional instruments. The block of congressmen supported the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government and now has benefited from the release of funds by Lula.

At the head of the ministry, Sabino intends to launch a tourism development plan and create measures for cheap accommodation for those benefiting from the R$200 airfare program promised by the government.

Why was there a delay in the announcement to formalize the exchange of former minister Daniela Carneiro for you?
It was a scheduling problem. I think the president traveled twice. Our party leaders also traveled. When the president was there in Belém, Pará [em 17 de junho], we already had a conversation where it was already defined. I was depending on this reconciliation of schedules. Last week, we made it.

What did the President ask of Mr. from the moment he became a minister?
In Pará, we talk a lot about tourism. He spoke of his concerns, of the potential that tourism has for our Brazil. And he gave some suggestions, from some people I could talk to, like the ex-minister Walfrido [Mares Guia].

The president asked us to make sure that the country starts to have tourism as an important generator of wealth and employment. He asked to look at the issue of sustainability, tourism, ecotourism with sustainability, and about COP-30.

What are the plans of Mr. for the ministry?
We started already from yesterday [segunda-feira] to format a National Tourism Development Plan, with goals and evaluation of actions. We intend to listen to the actors who operate in this activity. The idea is to deliver the plan by the end of September, we have a lot to grow. I am convinced that we can and will succeed in making tourism mean a new pre-salt layer in terms of generating wealth for Brazil.

The Ministry of Tourism has a limited budget, with one of the lowest budgets for the Esplanada.
How to overcome this limitation?
We are going to work on tourism exactly as a cross-cutting policy, dialogue with other ministries, seek partnerships. Yesterday I was with the president of Embratur, Marcelo Freixo. We want to make a budget recomposition [no ministério] of the order of R$ 500 million.

In addition, we started to elaborate, as of yesterday, a menu of proposals to present to parliamentarians, senators and deputies. So, we have a project here to further improve the tourist potential, whether it be the construction of a convention center, an amphitheater, an environment for tourist coexistence, access to a beach. The objective is to attract parliamentary amendments to the Ministry of Tourism. And we are going to give maximum speed to attend to the parliamentarians with the amendments that they intend here.

One of the criticisms of the amendments is that, sometimes, it ends up directing resources to strongholds of politicians at the base of the government and allies, instead of allocating them to needier cities. How to resolve this issue?
The percentage that is allocated to parliamentary amendments is a constitutional percentage. In relation to the congressman sending an amendment to the place where he received the most votes… Would you like him to send it to the place where he received the least number of votes?

With the change at the Ministry of Tourism, Mr. Do you think União Brasil will give more votes to the government?
Our party has voted overwhelmingly in favor of the projects it believes are important for Brazil. The vote of each deputy belongs to the mandate of each deputy.

It is clear that there is a willingness to expand the dialogue. There is now a prospect that the dialogue will be more efficient, that parliamentarians in the Chamber can participate in a more decisive way in the elaboration of policies. And you tend to be supportive of what you helped to build.

Will União Brasil continue with the discourse that it is independent or will that change?
I believe that União Brasil will continue to be responsible and vote almost entirely in favor of projects that are important for Brazil.

Mr. ends up being cited as an example that the centrão is now entering the Lula government.
Today the political center has a very great importance and relevance for any ruler. We came from a very polarized, very radicalized election and the political center is the pendulum there that can help Brazil grow.

In the old days, people used to talk about the center as a pejorative thing. Now the center is already turning into a positive thing. I consider myself a thoughtful person. I don’t seek extremes, but I want to do what’s best for our country, social policies that are important for Brazil.

What makes the center positive today?
People are starting to understand that balancing is a positive path. It is a way that you have positive things that can be added with weighting.

But the group is also associated with ministerial negotiations and amendments.
It is natural, practically all countries where democracy reigns there are compositions in the government. I don’t see this as something anti-democratic or anti-republican.

It is natural that there is this type of composition for the elaboration of public policies, for ministerial composition. I intend here at the Ministry of Tourism to make a great contribution to Brazil, to President Lula’s government, and also to help show that União Brasil has good staff.

Mr. it is close to Lira. How do you see his relationship with the government today?
He is a very republican person, he values ​​democracy and he demonstrated this in his response to the attacks that took place on January 8th. He, of course, is very concerned about honoring the deputies, because the deputies are the ones who elect him as president. I don’t see him as someone who embarrasses the government.

Mr. defend more space for União Brasil on the Esplanada?
I defend the development of a great tourism plan and that we reformulate the National Tourism Council, which is a council that was very successful during Walfrido’s time. With quarterly meetings, listening to the council for important ministry decisions.

Mr. said he was with Marcelo Freixo. Mr. will keep you at the head of Embratur, which is coveted by the center?
I await the composition that is being built with the president, with the party leaders.

I think it’s natural, you see political parties that have a stake in some kind of policy, with ministries even bigger than that, and they have a stake from start to finish. And I see that this election by the Union is natural. I don’t know how this will end. We are waiting for the president to return [de viagem] and conversations resume.

Mr. Will you defend that União Brasil stays with Embratur?
I talked yesterday [segunda] enough with Freixo. But we talked about tourism policy, about the agenda that still has until the end of the year, about his participation also in the construction of this plan that we are doing. I’m a dialogue person, so let’s wait for the best closure of this.

What are the priorities for COP-30 [que será promovida em Belém, em 2025]?
The COP [conferência da ONU sobre mudanças climáticas] it will be positive for the whole of Brazil, not just for Belém. The entire region will serve as logistical support for Belém.

The perspective is that it will leave, as other large events leave, a legacy for the region, a legacy of tourist devices, of receptiveness. The whole of Brazil will breathe this moment, will benefit from the biggest event on climate change and preservation of the environment that takes place in the world. The perspective is to receive more than 80 thousand visitors in Belém during the COP period. Investments have already been announced and others are yet to be announced.

Mr. Are you already thinking of a project in partnership with other ministers?
I had a meeting with Minister Márcio França [Portos e Aeroportos]. This BRL 200 ticket program is a very noble initiative, very positive.

And I have already made contact with ABIH representatives [Associação Brasileira da Indústria de Hotéis]which is the largest association of hotels in Brazil, in the sense that we are also launching a program together with this one for tickets, so that those same people who have the possibility of benefiting from these tickets can also have a discount on hotels.

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X-RAY | Celso Sabino, 44

Federal deputy since 2019, he left office to occupy the Ministry of Tourism. He is a lawyer and has served as a tax auditor. Allied with the mayor, Arthur Lira, he got relevant positions in the congressional budget discussions in his first term.