Lula and Lira will meet in the final stretch of ministerial exchange – 08/16/2023 – Politics

Under pressure from the centrão and with the risk of seeing his government’s agenda stagnant in the National Congress, President Lula (PT) organizes a meeting with the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), in yet another movement to materialize the entrance of PP and Republicans in the Esplanada dos Ministérios.

There was a prediction that the meeting would take place on the night of this Wednesday (16) at Palácio da Alvorada. There was indeed a movement of cars entering and leaving the official residence of the Presidency, but without confirmation of the meeting until the end of the night.

The meeting is part of an arm wrestling scenario between the two politicians.

The expectation of allies of the government and the parliamentarian is that Lula would present Lira with possible scenarios for accommodating the two parties in his ministry so that, in a second moment, he could meet with leaders of the respective parties.

In recent weeks, the political wing of the Executive outlined different hypotheses for this design, from a musical chairs between the current occupants of the folders to the creation of new ministries. It is already certain that deputies Silvio Costa Filho (Republicans-PE) and André Fufuca (PP-MA) will be ministers – but there is still no clarity about which portfolios they will occupy.

Such as Sheet showed, allies claim that Lula should hit the hammer on these changes by this Friday (18), as the president embarks on a new trip abroad on Sunday.

In addition, assistants to the president warn of the risk of stagnating the Executive’s agenda in Congress if the PT postpones once again the definition of the design of the Esplanada dos Ministérios.

This week, the vote on the new fiscal framework, a matter considered a priority for the government, was once again postponed in the Chamber.

This meeting also takes place at a time when there is disagreement between Lira and Fernando Haddad (Finance), after statements by the minister about the “very great power” of the Chamber, which contributed to sour the climate between the Executive and Legislative branches.

Lula’s interlocutors who recently met with the president bet on the permanence of Minister Wellington Dias (Social Development). Despite the criticism of his performance, Dias has Lula’s confidence —he was one of the coordinators of last year’s campaign— in addition to the PT’s intention to remain at the head of the portfolio.

Social Development, responsible for managing Bolsa Família, is in the sights of the PP, which is negotiating with Lula to occupy a ministry in the government.

Dias met with Lula this Wednesday (16). According to people close to the minister, they dealt with plans for “Brasil Sem Fome”, which was interpreted by Lula’s allies as a sign that he will survive the ministerial reform.

Lula still wants to meet with leaders and the leadership of the PP and the Republicans before enacting the changes on the Esplanada. The expectation is that this meeting will take place until Friday.

This Tuesday, Lira told journalists that she has been in frequent contact with Lula by telephone.

“The Presidency of the Chamber has an excellent relationship with the President of the Republic, we have to have this relationship, we have this relationship, but it is far from guided by this participation [em ministérios].”, he declared.

The window for the Planalto Palace to resolve the imbroglio of the reform design is short. Lula is already traveling again, at the beginning of next week, to participate in the XV BRICS Summit, in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Negotiations for the ministerial reform that will open space for the PP and the Republicans began in July. The centrão has complained about the delay for Lula to implement the changes in the Esplanada.