Harsh conditions shape Lula’s relationship with the left – 05/13/2023 – Bruno Boghossian

Lula has been hearing some noise to the left of the Planalto Palace. In the economy, PT wings maintain a campaign against the tightening of the fiscal framework negotiated by the Treasury with Congress. In the countryside, the MST promises to increase pressure on the government to advance agrarian reform initiatives.

The president is not a beginner in this area. When the PT left attacked the economic agenda of the first term, Lula gave the green light for the expulsion of parliamentarians from the party. With the social movements, the government achieved a friendly relationship thanks to the acceleration of public policies and the sharing of positions in the federal machine.

The new mandate offers Lula harsher circumstances of interaction with these sectors of his base. Even if the president takes steps to the left (on the social platform, in diplomacy and in choices about the role of the State, for example), political and economic conditions pull the government in another direction.

With 40 years in the MST, João Pedro Stedile gave the diagnosis. In an interview with Mônica Bergamo, the leader of the movement said that Lula’s team takes time to meet demands, criticized the negative reaction of ministers to the occupation of land by the group and assessed that the tense election left the government “a little fearful” to face what calls “social struggle”.

In fact, the political framework led Lula to make concessions to sectors far from the orbit of the left. The government has a minister of agriculture linked to large producers and is wary of the reputational cost of the MST’s invasions.

Something similar happens with Fernando Haddad, who cushions pressure from the left in the economy. The expenditure control proposed by the minister in the fiscal framework was compared to a pact with the devil by deputy Lindbergh Farias (PT).

The left itself, however, recognizes the value of concessions. In the interview with SheetStedile praised Haddad’s agenda and went so far as to say that former toucan Geraldo Alckmin could be a good successor to Lula.

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