Tarcísio seeks marks and balance in 100 days of government – 08/04/2023 – Politics

Governor Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans) will complete one hundred days in office balancing between gestures to the Bolsonarist base and nods to the left, while consolidating the support base in the Legislative Assembly and dealing with the mishaps inherent in the function of administering the state of São Paulo.

The government experienced wear and tear in areas such as education and transport, but saw the opposition’s ill will cool down for two reasons: Tarcísio sought to distance himself from the radicalism associated with the godfather of his candidacy, Jair Bolsonaro (PL), and opened a dialogue with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT).

A figure who broke the PSDB’s nearly 30-year cycle in the state machine, the current governor avoided drastic ruptures with the toucan model, differentiating himself by aspects such as the greater appetite for privatizations and the preferential appointment of technicians to the detriment of politicians.

The government scheduled for this Monday morning (10) an event at the Palácio dos Bandeirantes to take stock of the first hundred days. At the same time, the group of state deputies from the PT/PV block will hold an act exploring the motto that the administration arrives at the date “with nothing to present”.

Tarcísio’s performance is closely followed both by politicians around Bolsonaro and by actors on the right who are looking for an alternative for the 2026 presidential election. Although he is out in public about being presidential, the governor strengthens himself in the betting market.

Successor of the toucan government of João Doria and Rodrigo Garcia, the new head of the São Paulo Executive underwent tests of fire already in his debut that placed him at the crossroads between Bolsonaro and Lula, but served as a test for the image of conciliatory politician that he sold in the campaign .

The year began with pressure for the demobilization of the coup camps that spawned the attacks in Brasília. The São Paulo government acted to withdraw Bolsonarist radicals after the riot on January 8, going against sectors that had supported Tarcísio’s election.

The reaction to the depredation of the headquarters of the three Powers placed the governor in the path of Lula, to whom he had promised, already in office, to maintain a professional relationship, putting aside ideological differences.

Invited to go to the federal capital with the other governors of the country to reaffirm respect for institutions and the democratic rule of law, Tarcísio hesitated at first about attending, but decided to go after being sought by the president of the Federal Supreme Court, Rosa Weber.

“Now, President Lula and I are partners”, he said at the beginning of February, repeating the speech that São Paulo needs Brazil to do well, and vice versa.

A new rapprochement with the PT occurred after the damage caused by the rains on the north coast of the state, with emergency actions involving the national and local spheres in assisting the victims of the storm that left 65 dead. Bolsonaristas hissed, but the discourse of republican coexistence prevailed.

The tuning seen in the tragedy is not the same when it comes to the concession of the port of Santos, an obsession of Tarcísio who faces resistance from the federal management, responsible for the complex. Differences were brought to the table in meetings and are, for now, in the field of negotiations.

The moment is also one of relative truce for the opposition, after measures such as the decision to sanction the law that allows the distribution of medicinal Cannabis by the SUS in the state.

Before that, the preference for names far from extremism in the assembly of the secretariat had been well received, although Guilherme Derrite (Public Security), Sonaira Fernandes (Policies for Women) and Renato Feder (Education) were criticized as Bolsonarist and privatist.

On the other hand, Tarcísio contemplated the conservative base linked to the former president when he dropped the requirement for proof of vaccination against Covid-19 in the state.

Articulator of the candidacy and today his right-hand man, Gilberto Kassab tells the Sheet that the governor is being the moderate he promised to be. “The image of a director who is a director and very responsible and has a public spirit was consolidated”, says the Secretary of Government and Institutional Relations.

For Kassab, Tarcísio gained respect even from the opposition. “Those who voted for him have every reason to be proud of their vote and those who did not vote for him have every reason to respect him”, he says, adding that the order is to fulfill the campaign slogan, that “São Paulo can more”.

Leader of the PT/PV block, state deputy Paulo Fiorilo says he saw no change in comparison with the PSDB years. “I see continuity, neither worse nor better. There is a lack of concrete measures to know what will be the government, which has not sent any structuring project to the Assembly.”

According to the petista, Tarcísio lacks a solid base in the Legislature – where he has, in theory, 53 of the 94 parliamentarians. The challenge is to neutralize complaints about the lack of space in government and the choice of key posts in the House. The margin for project approval, however, is comfortable.

Some of the crucial issues for the government will pass through the Assembly, such as the privatization of Sabesp, fought by the left. There are also criticisms of the suspension of the program for psychologists in schools, aggravated by the wave of violence, and the sequence of accidents on train and subway lines.

The subway strike, two weeks ago, scratched the image of the Chief Executive. The argument involved Tarcísio’s promise to release turnstiles, the judicial request for the return of service, the union accusing the governor of lying and the state talking about an unfulfilled agreement.

On Monday, the opposition’s protest-act will also demand investments in social assistance for the most vulnerable, solutions for cracolândia and hiring of teachers.

The material to be released by Bandeirantes says that the work in the first days reconciled meeting the basic needs of the population with the search for investments in the economy. The governor’s missions to Switzerland, London and Paris were part of the effort. In the British capital, he fell ill with a kidney crisis and had to be hospitalized to remove a stone on the 27th.

Other crises are taking shape, but in the political sphere, with Bolsonaro’s return to Brazil and the dispute for Tarcísio’s support in the election for São Paulo City Hall —desired by the re-election candidate, Ricardo Nunes (MDB), and by the conservative camp, who may be represented by Ricardo Salles (PL).

The pressures for a dive into the Bolsonarist universe will be a test for those who, until now, managed contradictions and tried to make balance their mark at the head of the state.