Haddad claims that Lula’s talk about Gaza was a cry for help – 02/22/2024 – Market

Finance Minister Fernando Haddad stated that the comparison made by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) of the Israeli action in Gaza with the Holocaust was a cry for help.

“He is not a traditional politician, who looks at all this and remains cold in the face of the deaths of children and women on the scale at which it is happening,” he said in an interview with Miriam Leitão, on GloboNews.

According to Haddad, Lula made the statement after hearing many testimonies and seeing images about the attacks on Gaza.

“One word or another of the president’s speech can be discussed, but I think the cry is pertinent”, he said. “We cannot remain indifferent to what is happening.”

The minister defended the end of the war and said that he learned to treat Jews and Muslims as brothers.

Haddad recalled that his family, Lebanese Christians, came to Brazil because of the growth of religious intolerance. His grandfather was a priest of the Eastern Church.

“In the war scenes, I want to cry,” he said. He defended Israel as a legitimate country, as well as the Palestinian state.

PROVISIONAL MEASURE

In the interview, Haddad confirmed the Lula government’s decision to send a bill with constitutional urgency to discuss with Congress the reimbursement of the payroll of 17 sectors of the economy and the social security contribution to be paid by municipalities.

The two themes are now part of an MP (provisional measure) published by the Ministry of Finance on December 28th, valid from April 1st. The project urgently needs to be analyzed by the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate within 45 days for each of the Houses.

The extinction of Perse (tax relief program for the events sector) and the limit on tax compensation (when companies that paid extra taxes in the past gain the right to deduct the amounts owed to the federal government) remain in the MP.

The separation of the subjects was a request from the president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG).

“I nodded because the president of Congress has really had a statesmanlike attitude. He is not looking at one party, one state or another. He is looking at the general picture and has been very attentive to serving the national interest when he thinks the matter It’s relevant, it’s urgent, it’s pertinent,” said Haddad.

The minister stated that he was open to negotiations with the aim of “sorting out public accounts”. He accused the government of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) of having imploded the budget, court orders, exemptions, fuel and aid.

“It was a party in 2022 to try to reverse the electoral situation that was unfavorable for him,” he said. “Our role is not to complain, it is to put order in things.”