From Sarney to Lula, remember the 100 days of governments – 08/04/2023 – Politics

The first hundred days of government of the presidents of the Republic who took office after the end of the military dictatorship (1964-1985) bring together dramatic episodes such as the death of the elected official, the confiscation of bank resources from Brazilians and a coup attack on the buildings of the three Powers.

The start also involved a very common situation: the emphasis on proposals to balance public accounts and control inflation, not always successfully.

In January 1985, the National Congress indirectly elected the first civilian to occupy the Presidency of the Republic since the 1964 coup, Tancredo Neves from Minas Gerais.

The traditional political fox, however, would not have his first hundred days of government. I wouldn’t even have one. Hospitalized on the eve of his inauguration, on March 15, he died five weeks later, on April 21, victim of a generalized infection.

In its place, José Sarney took over, a former member of Arena and the PDS —respectively the party that supported the dictatorship and its successor— and a New Christian in the PMDB (today MDB).

The period was marked by doubts about the capacity to sustain the new president. To stay in power, Sarney anchored himself on the policy of “a transition with the Armed Forces and not against them” and on the support of a good part of the politicians who came out of the dictatorship.

In Congress, the president was overshadowed by Ulysses Guimarães (1916-1992), president of the Chamber, MDB’s biggest star and one of the main politicians of redemocratization.

During this period, the consolidation of the dictatorship-democracy transition began, with measures to replace the authoritarian legal framework with democratic regulations. A good part of these measures, however, were credited to the effort of Congress, of Ulysses in particular, and not of the government.

Sarney also launched the national plan for agrarian reform, which was strongly opposed by rural and conservative sectors.

The transition to democracy would only be consolidated with the approval of the 1988 Constitution and the direct presidential elections of 1989.

In the economic area, opted for measures to artificially contain prices and reduce expenses with the objective of combating inflation and the account deficit, in a scenario still of external debt and of strong pressure commanded by the International Monetary Fund.

The team, commanded by Francisco Dornelles, would fall after five months of government, in August 1985. The main measure in the area would only be implemented in the second year of government, with Dilson Funaro at the Farm: the failed Cruzado Plan, of 1986.

Five days after the hundred days, Sarney would send to Congress the proposal to convene the National Constituent Assembly, which would result in the 1988 Constitution.

Sarney’s successor, Fernando Collor de Mello, was elected by the dwarf PRN and took office in March 1990, announcing the spectacular Plano Collor, the anti-inflationary shock that included confiscation of deposits and banking applications from the population for 18 months, freezing prices and prefixing salary increases.

The expected drop to zero in inflation from levels of 80% was not confirmed, and at the 100-day mark it was already around 10%, eroding initial support for the plan.

The promise of administrative reform, which aimed to dismiss around 360,000 civil servants —in the wake of his fame as a “hunter of maharajas” that catapulted him nationally—, also proved to be unfeasible, reaching less than 10% of the target set for the 100 days.

Collor was impeached in 1992, when his deputy, Itamar Franco (1930-2011), took office.

In its first hundred days, Itamar proposed the approval of an emergency fiscal adjustment plan, which led the National Congress to be convened extraordinarily in early 1993.

On that occasion, the IPMF (predecessor of the CPMF) was approved, a tax on financial transactions that was in force in 1994. He also sought to increase his support base and establish a governability pact after the impeachment, which included meeting with party presidents, in January 1993.

The first hundred days of Itamar’s successor, his then Finance Minister, Fernando Henrique Cardoso (PSDB), were rocked by the success of the Real Plan, which elected him.

The toucan prioritized cost containment measures and maintenance of currency stabilization.

In the first hundred days, the Concessions Law was sanctioned, which allowed the private sector to operate in areas such as electricity, sanitation and telecommunications.

Despite a good base in Congress, FHC suffered an important defeat, being forced to raise the minimum wage from R$70 to R$100, and not R$80, as he wanted.

In his departure, in 2003, Lula prioritized actions in the sense of showing austerity in the economy, in the face of the great distrust of the market, in addition to social concern, in the face of pressure from his support base.

During this period, Fome Zero was launched, which would later become Bolsa Família, today the largest federal social program.

In the economy, Antonio Palocci conducted a pro-fiscal tightening policy, which included setting a fiscal surplus target of 4.25% of GDP, the highest in history.

Also on the agenda were discussions on the Social Security Reform, which would be forwarded by the government and approved at the end of the year by Congress.

Dilma Rousseff (PT) began her administration in 2011 with the mark of continuity in relation to the political godfather, with adaptations to her style, less “palanqueiro” and a taste for managing even the most lateral matters of the federal administration.

A change by Dilma in relation to Lula, in the first hundred days, was a direct position in defense of human rights in foreign policy, unlike the ambiguity of the Lula administration in relation to leftist dictatorships.

With a comfortable majority in Congress, of about 380 of the 513 seats in the Chamber, she was able to initially resist the division of positions between allies.

In the economy, it promoted a cut of R$ 50 billion in the Budget and injected resources into the BNDES. The BC indicated that it would let inflation exceed the target in order not to affect the country’s growth.

After the impeachment of the petista, in 2016, Michel Temer (MDB) had as his main measure the sending to Congress of the proposal for a spending ceiling for up to 20 years, a measure later approved, but which ended up being disfigured more intensely in the pandemic and which will now be revoked by the new fiscal framework of the Lula government.

Three ministers fell in the first hundred days, including Romero Jucá (Planning) after the Sheet reveal a recording of a conversation between him and the former president of Transpetro, Sérgio Machado. In the audio, Jucá proposed a “pact” to stop the “bleeding” of Lava Jato.

Elected by the then runt PSL in the conservative wave of 2018, Jair Bolsonaro (today in the PL), also started his government with a change of ministers —Gustavo Bebianno (General Secretary) fell after friction with the presidential family and amid the scandal of the candidacies of oranges. Ricardo Vélez Rodríguez (Education) was dismissed on the eve of the 100-day date.

Bolsonaro tried to implement a model of relationship with Congress by negotiating with parliamentary fronts, not parties, which later proved to be a failure and was abandoned.

In the initial period of one hundred days, he sent the Social Security Reform proposal, which ended up being largely conducted by Congress and resulted in the greatest reform of the system in history.

The process of loosening the rules for the purchase of weapons and ammunition, dismantling the apparatus of environmental inspection also began and sent to Congress the so-called “anti-crime package”, prepared by Sergio Moro, which ended up being disfigured in relation to the original proposal through the government base and Bolsonaro’s own vetoes and sanctions.

Lula 3 witnessed the coup attack by Bolsonarists on the summits of the Three Powers on the eighth day of his government.

At that start, he changed the commander of the Army, in line with the depoliticization of the Armed Forces, maintained the payment of BRL 600 in Bolsa Família, with an additional BRL 150 for children under six years of age, in addition to coordinating actions on behalf of the people Yanomami and to adopt a series of actions to repeal regulations and actions taken by the Bolsonaro administration.

In common with several predecessors, the issue of public accounts, inflation and economic growth. At the same time that he announced the proposed new fiscal framework, he publicly attacked the president of the Central Bank in a pressure to lower interest rates.

Because he still does not have security in his support base in Congress, assembled through the offer of ministries, positions and budget amendments, Lula did not have important votes in these first hundred days of his administration.