Government needs the trust of the mayors, and mayors, the support of the government – 04/17/2023 – Jorge Abrahão

The traditional March of Mayors, organized by the National Confederation of Municipalities (CNM), brought together thousands of managers and councilors from Brazilian cities in Brasília. The agenda of the meeting gives an idea of ​​the main concerns of the mayors: tax reform, federative pact, financing of sectorial policies (health, education, sanitation, among others) and reflection on ways for local development. Attention was drawn to the lack of debates on social participation, a key issue for cities today.

At the opening of the event, the vice president, Geraldo Alckmin, said that, although he was governor of the state of São Paulo for four terms, he is remembered more in Pindamonhangaba (SP) as mayor of the city than as governor, seeking to value the management municipal space and reinforcing the idea that what matters in people’s lives is closely related to the space of the municipality.

The Minister of Planning, Simone Tebet, pointed out that more than 3,000 of the 5,570 Brazilian municipalities have a per capita revenue of less than R$ 100 per year, or R$ 8 per inhabitant/month. This data, by itself, shows the difficulty of investing in areas that do not have budgetary links from state or Union governments, such as health and education.

Fernando Haddad, Minister of Finance, dedicated himself to defending the tax reform, remembering that the proposal to be forwarded will not bring harm to cities and that it will make GDP grow 10% over the next ten years. The metaphor he used was that the proposal does not touch the cake, but its yeast (which will rise in the future). Haddad defended the consumption tax, arguing that 176 of the approximately 200 countries that exist in the world have already adopted the model that is now being proposed.

It is true that, for a long time now, municipalities have been absorbing responsibilities without proportional compensation, which leaves them in a situation of financial difficulty. There is also a certain fear on the part of the mayors, as if they were in a state of defense, averse to any change. To move forward, it will be necessary to change the prevailing spirit and create an environment of trust. Haddad and Tebet have shown great alignment and symbolize a broad political alliance for the resumption of a more responsible moment in the country, after the setbacks experienced in the last four years.

A new federative pact, which considers the responsibilities assumed by municipalities since the 1988 Constitution, will be necessary for local governments to breathe and get out of the current penury. The division of revenues between federative entities must be reviewed, because the current sharing perpetuates inequalities.

It is difficult to know the political option of most of the mayors present, which is somehow related to the trust placed in federal authorities and eventual political support. The careful language adopted by the ministers shows the awareness that most of them were aligned with the Bolsonaro government. Analysis of the results of elections in many regions of the country corroborates this division of preferences.

Not by chance, in front of the Convention Center, a photographer offered a photomontage in which the mayor could choose to appear alongside Lula or Bolsonaro, which demonstrates the extent of the division in the municipal field and the dedication of time and energy by top leaders. from the federal government to the event.

Also curious were the paternalistic recommendations of the CNM president at the end of the day’s work: “Remember that you will only have a certificate of participation in the event if you are present at the plenary sessions and panels, whose presence is controlled by reading the barcode on each participant’s badge”.

Soon after, he recommended that those present not frequent places that could tarnish the reputation of the municipal ruling class. The infantilization of mayors was decreed, therefore, by controlling attendance, as in an elementary school; and the warning about behavioral risks recalled the appeals made by fearful parents to their teenage children. It was to be assumed that representatives of the cities where more than 210 million Brazilians live would not need this type of control.

By integrating the dimensions of an event like the March —contents, messages, behaviors— one can get an idea of ​​the size of the challenges that mayors have ahead of them. And, also, if they are really prepared to promote a dignified life for the entire population, the main objective of any public manager.

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