Lula preserves PT and fires another woman – 09/07/2023 – Politics

President Lula (PT) made official the first major ministerial reform of his government after nearly two months of drawn-out negotiations. The balance of exchanges preserved the PT, the president’s party, and had another minister —Ana Moser, of Sports— fired and replaced by a man.

The Planalto Palace sought to compose with centrão parties that in the past management were allied with Jair Bolsonaro (PL). In this way, Lula made room on the Esplanade for the PP and the Republicans, in exchange for support in the National Congress. Together, the parties have 49 and 41 deputies, respectively.

With the departure of Ana Moser, Lula loses the record for women in the first echelon, so vaunted during the transition of government. In the beginning, there were 11 out of 37 folders. Now, there are 10 out of 38. The highest level so far was that of Dilma Rousseff (PT), who had 10 out of 37 ministries.

Before the fall of the Sports Minister, Lula had already, in July, exchanged Daniela Carneiro (União Brasil-RJ) for Celso Sabino (União Brasil-PA) at the Ministry of Tourism.

The dismissal of the former athlete also comes at a time when the president is under pressure to increase female participation in his nominations. There is a mobilization for him to nominate a black woman to the Federal Supreme Court for the vacancy of Rosa Weber.

But the current trend, according to palace assistants, is for him to nominate a close ally with whom he has a relationship of trust. The most quoted are all men: ministers Jorge Messias (Attorney General of the Union) and Flávio Dino (Justice), in addition to the president of the Federal Audit Court, Bruno Dantas.

In the first vacancy he was able to indicate to the Supreme Court, he chose his lawyer Cristiano Zanin, frustrating activists’ expectations.

The reduction in female participation on the Esplanada could have been even greater. Minister Luciana Santos’ portfolio (Science, Technology and Innovation) was even threatened with entering the negotiations. But that hypothesis was ruled out.

Lula had already warned the PT summit on August 2 that the accommodation of the centrão’s neo-allies would involve sacrifices in portfolios commanded by PT and PSB, in addition to those headed by ministers without political sponsors.

The promise was fulfilled only in part. The reform reached the PSB, but, at least in the first echelon, the PT was protected.

Márcio França (PSB), holder of Ports and Airports, was transferred to the new Ministry of Micro and Small Enterprises. He resisted the idea because he found the new folder too small. He defended boosting the ministry, which Planalto ended up accepting.

The PSB also complained during negotiations that the government was making room for parties that, until recently, were with Bolsonaro. In fact, wings of the Republicans and the PP are still very close to Bolsonarism and were against boarding the government.

The Northeastern benches of these two parties, however, supported Lula in the majority and worked to consolidate the alliance this year.

André Fufuca (PP-MA) will assume the Ministry of Sport and Silvio Costa Filho (Republicanos-PE), the Ministry of Ports and Airports.

In addition, the expectation is that the PP will also receive command of Caixa Econômica Federal. This exchange must be made official in a second moment. The current president of Caixa, Rita Serrano, was nominated by PT staff.

The biggest risk taken by the PT in the first echelon was in relation to the Ministry of Social Development, headed by Wellington Dias. The PP made an offensive to take over the portfolio and, at a certain point, the conversations even involved a possible slicing of the ministry. In this scenario, the centrão could appoint the minister, but Bolsa Família would be removed from the structure to remain under the tutelage of a PT member.

The PT reacted and the Planalto retreated. The assessment was that the folder was very central to the government. While Dias suffered a frying process, first lady Rosângela da Silva, known as Janja, went so far as to say that Social Development was the “heart of government”.

In addition to Dias, there are 11 other PT members on the Esplanada, which now has 38 ministries.

Ana Moser has no political connections. She is a former volleyball player and Olympic medalist. In addition, she has a history of dedication to management projects and public policies in the area. Her nomination had the support of NGOs, athletes and also sports confederations.

She was part of a group of athletes who during the campaign worked for the election of the PT. During the transition, she participated in the theme’s working group.