I don’t know if Haddad is good for Brazil, says Lula’s ally – 05/27/2023 – Market

The national president of the PSB, Carlos Siqueira, makes a positive assessment of the first months of the Lula (PT) government, but sees the fiscal framework approved by the Chamber of Deputies as worrying, as he believes that it limits investments.

Siqueira says that Minister Fernando Haddad (Finance) has a policy aligned with the market and claims to have doubts about the PT’s management of the portfolio.

The minister is dubbed by supporters as the most toucan PT. “He [Haddad] it is more open to the market and this has its consequences. For the market, great, but for the country, I don’t know if [é] so good”, says Siqueira in an interview with Sheet.

For the leader of the PSB, vice-president Geraldo Alckmin’s party, political articulation has struggled at the beginning of his government. However, the Planalto Palace should speed up the release of amendments and political appointments.

What balance does Mr. make of the first months of government? I make a positive assessment. First, the election of President Lula and the formation of a new government [permitiu ao país] get out of a pullback straight. I also see the government’s initiative to prioritize this economic issue as interesting. I think that the fiscal framework has limits, let’s say, on investment, so I find it worrying that the Brazilian State may be very limited for important large-scale initiatives.

Mr. you’re talking about approval of the framework. Do you think that this project could end up generating political problems for the government in the future? There are sectors on the left that have a critical view of this economic policy, thus closely related to the interests of the market. But I think we have to come to terms with the reality that, politically, this is what is possible to do at the moment. For this very reason, the PSB firmly followed the vote on the fiscal framework, but it is still worrying.

Mr. endorse the criticisms made then? I think they have reason to exist, although political reality calls us to respond to challenges that are possible. I think politics demands realism and this needs to be faced in practice.

The Planalto managed to tie the PT, which voted in favor of the framework, but with criticism. Does this create instability in the government? I wouldn’t say instability. When you look at the government’s economic area, you can clearly see that it has a horizon that is more in tune with it. The criticism is that we could have a greater margin for investment, and we don’t because of the limits that were created, and that stem from the excess of liberalism in the recent past. So, these are things that both sides have their reasons for.

The measure came from the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, who has been criticized by sectors of the PT, who consider him excessively liberal. Mr. do you agree? I wouldn’t say excessively. Excessively it was Bolsonaro. In the Bolsonaro government it was the [Paulo] Guedes, right? He [Haddad] it is more open to the market and this has its consequences. For the market, great, but for the country, I don’t know if [é] so good.

Why mr. say that about Haddad? I even like Haddad a lot, but I think that the policies that were made in the last decades in the country are very in tune. The power of the national and international financial system is very great and it is reflected in the world of politics in a way that people don’t even realize. There is a predominance of this today, including the very composition of Congress and the government’s difficulties are a reflection of this influence.

One of the plans of the Ministry of Finance is to eliminate the deficit next year. Mr. agree with that? The country has R$ 600 billion in tax breaks. Haddad is proposing a BRL 150 billion recovery on the revenue side. There has to be space for investments. It is necessary to have fiscal responsibility, but also with room for investments and social rights, such as education, health, etc.

The government suffered a defeat in the sanitation decrees, including the PSB vote. What is your assessment of political articulation? in that case [do saneamento], which was a secondary matter, let’s say, and the government really wavered a little, because it could have done it in a more agile way. That’s part of the process. The government itself then reacted well because they called me to talk, we had a meeting with the three ministers, with the vice president, with the minister [de Relações Institucionais, Alexandre] Padilha, with PT himself.

What generated this defeat, the lack of dialogue? I think that that was a message from Congress to the government with the dissatisfaction with the non-release of amendments, with the delay in the positions. I thought that both the PT and the government, when he criticized us, charged us correctly. I think government is government, opposition is opposition. If you are dissatisfied, you have to demonstrate it internally. When voting, you can have a critical view, but that doesn’t mean you vote against the government.

Mr. Do you consider that the government has its base in Congress, or is it dependent on the President of the Chamber? I think that the mayor has a lot of power over the benches of the so-called centrão, and he has exercised that power. However, the government also has its room for manoeuvre, because the government has the instruments, which even contributed to the voting on the framework, to exercise its influence. The government has a base that ideologically I consider mobile. For some subjects it will work well, for others not so much, and for another it may not work well.

What will it work well for? I think for the economic issue, with the limits I mentioned. For the democratic issue, it can and has already helped. And from a mores point of view, I think she’s very conservative and will continue to be.

Mr. Do you have a position on oil exploration in the Foz do Amazonas region? The country cannot spare its resources. Now, obviously, when it comes to the Amazon, the necessary care must be taken, so that it is a sustainable development. Protecting the environment does not mean interrupting the country’s development.

Mr. Do you think this could convey an image, especially abroad, that President Lula interfered in the case? I wouldn’t call it interference, because the President of the Republic is the one who decides in the government. Minister complies with decision. And if there are ways that don’t damage the environment, why not?

Does the PSB feel contemplated on the Esplanade? Yes. The PSB has three ministers, three people with experience. And they are looking to make their contribution. We never complain. It is clear that there are questions of deputies, positions here or there in a state that have not yet been attended to. We hope you have a suitable solution that can also collaborate with those who contribute to the government in Congress.

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X-ray

Carlos Roberto Siqueira de Barros, 68

Lawyer and president of the PSB, he was a trusted man of the former governor of Pernambuco Miguel Arraes. He was president of the João Mangabeira Foundation from 2007 to 2014 and coordinated Eduardo Campos’ presidential campaign in 2014. He took over the leadership of the party after Campos’ death