Minister Márcio Macêdo says that Lula does not persecute anyone – 12/27/2023 – Power

Minister Márcio Macêdo (General Secretariat of the Presidency) says he is betting on the advancement of social and economic policies by the Lula (PT) government to break resistance from Jair Bolsonaro’s (PL) voters who, for him, remained dormant in the electoral dispute and are now waking up.

“People are seeing that there is no discrimination against anyone, there is no persecution against anyone, that public policies are being directed to solve the population’s problems, that the economy is being looked after in a very efficient way”, he stated in an interview with Sheet.

Giving examples of GDP figures, inflation control and the approval of tax reform, Macêdo stated that “a series of things are happening and it is natural that people are assimilating [as mudanças]”, having “access to information” and “feeling” the results.

For the minister, “having opposition is healthy” and defending democracy presupposes debate with opponents. “It’s good to have opposition, that’s how democracy is built. We respect opposing positions. And it’s important that they exist, monitor us and point out possible errors so that we can correct course. What we fight is hatred, intolerance, authoritarianism.”

The PT member, who works from Planalto and has direct access to Lula, highlights the reopening of social participation in the government and the presence in international forums in the General Secretariat’s balance sheet in 2023.

According to the minister, the rooting of the extreme right in the country promoted for four years a wave of fake news and encouragement of social division, which Lula seeks to combat with “a republican stance aimed at uniting Brazil” and dialoguing with institutions and governments without vetoes ideological.

“It’s natural for there to be a process of resuming this, and sometimes it doesn’t happen at the speed we want. It’s as if a part of society had fallen asleep and was coming back from sleep. A part that voted for Bolsonaro, for various reasons, has reflected”, said Macêdo.

The speech to “restore peace and unity” was repeated by Lula in his Christmas address — contrary to other speeches throughout his term, in which he maintained attacks on Bolsonaro and his supporters.

A Datafolha survey carried out in December showed stability in Lula’s assessment, with 38% approval from Brazilians, while 30% consider his work to be average, and the same percentage, bad or terrible.

The institute also exposed that polarization is at the same levels as at the time of the election, with a situation in which 30% consider themselves staunch PT supporters and 25% consider themselves Bolsonarists. Another indication is that 90% of people say they do not regret voting for Lula or Bolsonaro in the second round.

While discussing the international events of the president and the ministry, Macêdo responded with a biblically inspired tirade to a question about critics of Lula’s trips abroad in the first year of his term: “God, forgive them. They don’t know what they say.”

The minister defended the relocations, saying that “they were fundamental for Brazil to regain its leading role” and meant foreign investment and the opening of markets.

“It was very correct. This is what a statesman who understands his importance and the importance of Brazil to the world has to do, and he [Lula] did”, added Macêdo, also mentioning the search for a leading role in environmental discussions and efforts to combat hunger.

Responsible for the government’s dialogue with social movements, the minister stated that the level of participation in consultations and conferences indicates that the segment is “mobilized and effervescent”.

He also said that he had fulfilled the objective, expressed by him in an interview with Sheet a few days before taking office, that “neither social movements will be the government’s transmission belt nor will the government be equipped by social movements”.

The minister stated that today the relationship with the groups, mostly linked to the PT and other left-wing parties and supporters of Lula’s candidacy in reaction to the isolation imposed by Bolsonaro, is “democratic, respectful and sincere”.

As shown by Sheet, amid the pressure, Lula ended up leaving a series of progressive agendas in the background. Over the course of the year, it ended up reducing the number of women in the first tier and appointed two men to vacancies in the STF (Supreme Federal Court), further reducing the female presence in the court (there were 2 women among the 11 magistrates and in 2024 there will only be one ).

For Macêdo, the General Secretariat’s advances include the creation or reactivation of councils with representatives of the population, such as Social Participation, Food Security (Consea) and Youth, in addition to the re-creation of the Sustainable Development Goals Commission.

According to the ministry, 34 thousand people in all states attended the plenary sessions of the Multi-Year Plan (PPA) 2024-2027. The document incorporated 85% of the 508 most voted proposals in the participatory process, which indicated priorities for the federal government’s actions and budget.

“We promote the reopening of all channels of social participation that were obstructed and mutilated in the last government,” said Macêdo, who is a federal deputy licensed by Sergipe and is tipped to run for the PT for Mayor of Aracaju in 2024.