Lula promotes “fair of positions” in the government to accommodate Centrão and expand allied base in Congress

After getting a majority to approve the tax reform in the Chamber of Deputies, last week, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) continues to mobilize political parties in an attempt to expand the allied base. In view of this, the petista has ongoing conversations to promote a true “sale of positions” and thus accommodate Centrão representatives in the current management. The focus is now on running Caixa, Correios and the National Health Foundation (Funasa), in addition to the Brazilian Agency for International Tourism Promotion (Embratur).

Centrão is part of the superbloco formed in the Chamber by the Progressives, by the President of the House, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), União Brasil, PDT, PSB, Avante, Solidariedade, Patriota and by the PSDB-Cidadania federation. The group wants greater participation in the Lula government, as a way of guaranteeing the implementation of its guidelines and interests.

The bloc maintains that support for tax reform, considered crucial for the country, deserves adequate compensation in terms of power and influence. After all, of the 382 votes in favor of the reform, 148 came from these parties. Allied to the fact that the government has just over 130 votes in its base, the Centrão has a tradition of political bargaining and negotiations in political history. Furthermore, it was and should be instrumental in approving important issues.

For this reason, he does not seem to mind demonstrating that he wants more space in the governmental structure, with greater decision-making power over policy and the application of public resources. Negotiations around the positions have moved the Esplanada dos Ministérios even during the parliamentary recess, with a focus on the Palácio do Planalto, where talks and agreements for a so-called ministerial mini-reform are taking place.

ongoing conversations

Last Monday (10th), for example, the current president of Caixa Econômica Federal, Maria Rita Serrano, was called for a conversation with President Lula. She is a career employee at the institution, and should give way to Gilberto Occhi, who has already chaired Caixa, and is linked to Progressistas (PP), from Lira.

According to sources linked to Caixa’s board of directors, other names to command the bank also circulate through the corridors of the headquarters in Brasília, such as Nelson Antônio de Souza, who was president of the bank in the Temer government; and the current president of Banco de Brasília (BRB), Paulo Henrique Costa, another Caixa career employee.

Despite rumors circulating that the current president of the bank would not be able to “sell” Caixa properly, generating dissatisfaction in Planalto, the exchange must take place even to “settle” the debt with Centrão for supporting the reform.

In a meeting outside the agenda this Tuesday, Lula received the current president of the Post Office, who is also in the sights of Centrão. Fabiano Silva is a lawyer for the Prerogativas Group, linked to the Workers’ Party (PT), which could make the PP’s aspirations more difficult.

Deputy José Nelto (PP-GO) told the People’s Gazette that the party has to have names in the ministries, companies”. He also said that the party has “the presidency of the Chamber, which is collaborating with Brazil”. In Nelto’s view, “the party can collaborate with great cadres”.

Funasa, which will be restructured through a decree agreed by the government with the Senate, should be linked to the Ministry of Health and can accommodate a name linked to the PP or Republicans. Despite this, federal deputy Marcos Pereira (SP), president of the Republicans, denies that the party is running for office in Lula’s government.

The definition of Embratur, the target of União Brasil, is still pending. Internal disagreements in the party, involving leader Elmar Nascimento (BA), party president Luciano Bivar, and senator Davi Alcolumbre (AP) would be hampering negotiations. The Minister of Institutional Relations, Alexandre Padilha, has said that “the government is willing to negotiate with other parties, in order to increase its support base in Congress”.

Lula says he “negotiates with parties”

Lula also took advantage of the weekly live this Tuesday to defend negotiations with the parties. “One thing that the press talks about, it negotiated with Centrão, we don’t negotiate with Centrão, it is not a party, it joins for certain things. You negotiate with the party, Republicans, PP, União Brasil, it is with these parties that you negotiate”, said Lula about the alignment to define the new government names.

“Negotiation is treated pejoratively in Brazil, negotiating is negotiating. You have to be patient, talk to who you like, who you don’t like”, he added.

Approaching the Center

For political scientist Leonardo Barreto, from the political risk consultancy Vector Research, the rapprochement with the Centrão parties is the result of a movement that began in the last government, of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL), and has been intensified with Lula, after the initial tension registered at the beginning of the PT administration.

“There was a restriction by Congress to support him [Lula], a certain fear due to the result of the elections. But there was a process of rapprochement, a process that combines with a very large force that pushes Lira to the process of agreement, which is this investigation carried out against him ”, he evaluates. “It’s an important point, it’s a process of approaching negotiation more linked to Lira than to the parties themselves”, adds the expert.

“There is a group that is with Lira, but you have a group that may want to open their own paths, Republicans and União Brasil, for example”, says the analyst about Centrão’s support for the current government.

Political scientist Valdir Pucci, general director of Faculdade Republicana, says that the Lula government needs the votes of the subtitles and the support of parliamentarians to approve matters in the National Congress, and that negotiations are pulverized by all parties. “Due to the Brazilian political-party structure, these parties need positions even to respond to their party bases. So that’s why we have this eagerness around public office”, he adds.

In Pucci’s assessment, this is not just a practice in Brazil, since “we see this negotiation all over the world”. The exchange of political offices in exchange for party support is common within the democratic process. But the analyst points out that what cannot happen is for this to “fall” into corruption.

Tourism, Sport and Social Development

The leader of the PP in the Chamber, André Fufuca (MA), and the deputy Sílvio Costa Filho (Republicanos-PE) are given as practically certain for the Ministries of Social Development and Sport, according to sources interviewed by the report of the People’s Gazette. In Tourism, Celso Sabino (União Brasil-PA) should replace Daniela Carneiro, who left the caption.

Despite the indications that the mini-reform could be announced in the next few days, the expectation is that the conversations will continue during the month of July, and the changes will only be defined in August.