Lira cobra Padilha: articulation is Lula’s biggest problem – 05/03/2023 – Power

The mayor, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), said this Wednesday (3) that the main problem of the Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) government is political articulation.

For him, ministers hold several meetings, but make few decisions in the face of complex scenarios.

“The Lula government has some facilities for articulation, but at the same time this is the government’s biggest problem. It meets, meets, meets and does not decide,” he said.

“In the Senate and in the Chamber, the government has its difficulties, and our fear is that this inaction, in a clear and calm conversation with President Lula, he understands this, he had this conversation with his ministers yesterday, it is for the government to react “, he said in an interview with GloboNews.

Lira also stated that the Lula government needs to understand that the Executive’s relationship with the other powers changed from 2002 to 2023, with laws and structures that “modified the country’s command”, and that the government needs to “shape” itself to the new moment of Brazilian democracy.

He also criticized ministers Alexandre Padilha (Institutional Relations) and Rui Costa (Casa Civil).

“Padilha is unfortunately the minister of political articulation. The charge has to start with him, but it extends to the Civil House, to the president’s closest advisors, to the ministers of the Esplanade, leaders of the Chamber and Senate. It is a set that needs to be walking in tune, otherwise it won’t play the correct lyrics, it will play out of tune”, he added.

As an example of the lack of political articulation, Lira cited the situation of the invasions by the MST (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra). Despite the government taking a stand against the actions of the landless, the mayor believes that there is a lack of effective action by the Executive to quell the crisis.

“I received members of the MST in my house accompanied by the [líder do PT na Câmara] Zeca Dirceu. The agro can coexist with family farming peacefully in the country […] But the movement left my house and invaded two Incras, Embrapa, four farms in Bahia, one in Alagoas, another in Mato Grosso do Sul”, he said.

“The government, the ministers signaled against [as invasões], but the government does not act rigorously”, he said. “I made the invitation to sit at the table, but there was not even anyone who gave feedback for us to sit in a government that is in favor of the movement, which has the movement as an ally, a president who was elected with that sensitivity, with a Congress that has nothing against it. Throw away the opportunity,” he complained.

The president of the Chamber also said that he sees an effort by Congress to prevent the crises of political articulation and the clash promoted by the opposition from affecting the discussion on the new fiscal framework.

“The framework is not at risk, I believe not. I think that this project is not a government project, it cannot be polluted as a government project. We are going to bring the new rule. It was well received, some details were missing and will be corrected in plenary “, he said.

The Lula government’s difficulties in adjusting political articulation, with ever-increasing and diffuse benches in the Chamber, prevented the government from consolidating political support in the Legislature. In this way, leaders allied with the Planalto do not know the size of the base in the Chamber.

Given this scenario, the government has suffered a series of defeats in recent weeks. The main one was the postponement of the vote on the Fake News PL, but the government has already had to signal retreats in the decrees that changed rules on sanitation and weapons to avoid more drastic measures by the National Congress.

The economic team also had to face defeats to approve a less streamlined text than the Ministry of Finance would like for the Perse MP (Emergency Program for the Resumption of the Events Sector).

Faced with the imminent defeat in the plenary, the government backed down and accepted an agreement not to bring forward the end of the federal tax exemption for companies in the sector, as Minister Fernando Haddad wanted.

The installation of the mixed CPI on January 8 was also confirmed despite the government’s articulation to the contrary. The Planalto Palace only changed its position after realizing that it would be inevitable to change the route.