Lula government sees Bolsonarism resilient even with nods – 10/27/2023 – Power

The Palácio do Planalto identified in internal research the resilience of a Bolsonarist base that has not changed its negative opinion about the Lula (PT) government despite the president’s nods to the center and religious segments. This portion has not reacted to economic indicators, such as inflation and employment.

In the words of Lula’s assistants, ten months into his term there is a calcification of an electorate hostile to the PT member who does not respond positively to any government policy.

Planalto carries out regular opinion polls to measure Lula’s acceptance among the electorate. In these surveys, according to reports made to Sheetalmost a fifth of those interviewed have persistently rated the government as terrible.

The existence of a portion refractory to Lula is nothing new. The president has already governed for eight years (2003-2010) and has always coexisted, to a greater or lesser extent, with a section of society critical of his management.

What worries PT’s advisors is that the surveys on the current rejection of Lula have a higher “terrible” percentage than in past terms. In previous administrations, these assistants say, there was a more significant volume of those who classified the Lula government as “bad” — a segment that reacted positively to certain federal policies.

The reversal of this tradition points to a solidification of opposition to Lula. These voters have former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) as their main leader.

The Palácio do Planalto was impressed by the fact that polls did not show variations in the number of voters who classified Lula as terrible, even at times when the government sought to distance itself from more left-wing agendas, mainly in the fields of customs.

The assessment in the political area is that, despite Lula’s electoral victory, conservatism has gained ground in the country. In this sense, Planalto has tried to avoid controversies in customs and focus on economic policies.

Faced with the fear of this diagnosis, allies of the PT member became uncomfortable behind the scenes with the agenda of the then minister Rosa Weber as president of the STF (Supreme Federal Court), when she put on the agenda actions on the decriminalization of drugs and abortion, topics flatly rejected by conservatives.

Lula himself verbalized the diagnosis of conservatism in society at a breakfast with journalists this Friday (27).

“The National Congress, as much as we would like to doubt it, say that it is conservative, the National Congress is the face of the Brazilian people in what they vote for”, said the president. “Right or wrong, that was it [o que foi votado]. We will have to prepare to change in the next elections.”

Faced with this impossibility of dialogue with a significant portion of the population, the strategy of Lula’s allies is to extend gestures to the electorate that evaluates the government as regular. One of the ways to achieve this, they say, is to adopt actions aimed at the middle class.

In polls, Lula has a strong performance among the poorest, but needs to improve as the income range rises.

Among the proposed measures are the prospect of expanding the salary range of those covered by programs such as Minha Casa, Minha Vida and Desenrola (for debt renegotiation), in addition to the policy of increasing the minimum wage.

On Monday (23), Lula expressed his intention to expand Minha Casa, Minha Vida to reach families with a gross monthly income of more than R$8,000. According to him, the program does not need to be exclusively aimed at the poorest.

Lula also stated that the minimum wage needs to increase every year above inflation.

“I think that kids have to learn a profession. Because of a profession, I was the first of my mother’s eight children to have my own house, to have a car, a television. Because we avoid the minimum wage” , he said.

When contacted, Minister Paulo Pimenta (Secretariat of Social Communication) said that he evaluates the internal research carried out by the government as positive. According to him, the surveys bring encouraging data for Planalto, including Lula’s approval.

He argued that the government’s policies have resulted in approval even among a portion of the electorate that did not vote for the PT member last year.

Pimenta also said that the government is preparing to enter a second stage. The first months of his administration, according to him, were dedicated to the resumption of public policies aimed at the poorest, with emphasis on programs such as Farmácia Popular, Mais Médicos and Luz para Todos.