The final investiture will take place on January 1 after the amendment introduced in the Constitution
MADRID, 31 (EUROPA PRESS)
Leftist leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will become Brazil’s president again this Sunday, in a long-awaited return to the political frontline that his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro will follow at a distance as he will not abide by protocol procedures in Brasilia if You are outside the country.
Lula previously ruled Brazil between 2003 and 2010, years during which he increased the international presence of the South American giant, symbolized in unprecedented Olympics, and took action to try to fight poverty and reduce inequality.
The numerous corruption scandals, mostly structured by the conspiracy of the Odebrecht construction company, nevertheless shaped his legacy in later years. Lula herself was imprisoned after a verdict that the judiciary annulled for irregularities “after the fact” and in a context where political polarization had already spread to all branches of the state.
Both Lula and the country at large have changed in the latter, but challenges like poverty alleviation have not, as data shows more than 33 million people in Brazil are starving, according to Red Penssan. Only four in ten families can fully meet their food needs and the NGO Oxfam estimates the country has been thrown back into the 1990s.
Brazil is also facing scourges of uncertainty and volatile economic inflation – 6 percent in November – and a slowdown in growth yet to be confirmed. The central bank estimated this December that GDP will grow 2.9 percent in 2022 and stay at around 1 percent in 2023.
Politically, Lula must serve a divided citizenry in that his victory in the last election was not as overwhelming as expected and less than two points behind Bolsonaro. In fact, the outgoing president received 58.2 million votes, more than four years earlier.
She has formed a multiparty government, although reserving key positions for the Workers’ Party (PT), and with a larger presence of women, though far from equal, as the balance continues to favor men with 26 to 11 positions.
Congress will also be dominated by conservative parties thanks to the rise of the far right, which will limit the new president’s room for maneuver, who has promised more budget transparency and regained the environmental policies berated by Bolsonaro.
Lula has already begun to make it clear that he will distance himself internationally from his predecessor, an ally of ex-President Donald Trump and critic of multilateralism. Bolsonaro has been virtually alone in the world during the COVID-19 pandemic, criticizing the restrictions and spreading health hoaxes.
The far-right leader will end his term with a 39 percent approval level, while 37 percent of citizens disapprove of his management, according to the final Datafolha poll. These are the worst results at the end of a first term since democracy was introduced in Brazil.
SOCIAL TENSION
Bolsonaro’s silence after the polls closed sparked a wave of protests marked by roadblocks. It was several days before the outgoing president pledged to begin the transition, although he did so with a small mouth and without openly admitting defeat – he had already floated conspiracy theories for the past few years with no evidence of voter fraud -.
Lula has promised that early in his tenure he will crack down on those who continue to refuse to acknowledge his victory, at a time when groups of “bolsonaristas” outside the barracks are still clamoring for possible military intervention. Operations were also carried out to dismantle suspected plans for violence.
Not only has Bolsonaro shown no signs of softening his position, but he has completed his list of rudeness with a notable absence from his successor’s inauguration. According to portal G1, Bolsonaro’s lawyers have advised him to leave Brazil before January 1 for fear of arrest.
Fear of possible violence has also led to the mobilization of a large security apparatus, both at the inauguration ceremony itself and on the streets in different parts of the country. Lula’s team organized a concert that hundreds of thousands of people could attend.
THE LAST INVESTMENT ON JANUARY 1ST
More than a dozen Heads of State or Government will be present at the beginning of the new political stage in Brazil, including King Felipe VI, who will be accompanied by Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares. and Second Vice President and Secretary of Labor Yolanda Díaz.
It is a tradition that the inauguration of the President in Brazil takes place on January 1, as the constitution has stipulated, but the 2023 ceremony will be the last time the ceremony coincides with the New Year. In 2021, a constitutional amendment was passed postponing the inauguration of the new president “to January 5 of the year following his election,” which will come into effect as early as 2027.