Lula wants to strengthen his base in the Brazilian Congress (Portal/Ueslei Marcelino)
Less than a year after assuming the Brazilian presidency Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva During these months he had difficulty getting his bills passed in Congress. This is a reaction to the narrow margin with which he defeated Jair Bolsonaro, which prevents him from achieving parliamentary majorities. For this reason, The head of state included two parties allied with the former president in his cabinet.
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Lula appointed two deputies as ministers for ports, airports and sport and created the micro and small business portfolio as part of a reform aimed at strengthening his allied base.
In a statement, the Presidium of the Republic said that the President met with the Minister of Institutional Relations. Alexandre Padilhaand with the deputies Silvio Costa Filho and Andre Fufucawho were invited to take over the two ministries.
Lula included MPs Silvio Costa Filho and André Fufuca, from the Republican and Progressive Party respectively, in his cabinet (https://www.camara.leg.br/)
Costa Filho of the Republicans and Fufuca of the Progressive Party (PP) agreed to take over the ports and airports and sports portfolios respectively.
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The Republicans are a party founded by the Universal Church of the Kingdom of Godone of the most powerful Protestant denominations in the country.
Fufuca, a young 33-year-old doctor, is a political godson and a member of the same party as the President of the Chamber of Deputies. Arthur Lirawho is also an ally of Celso Sabino of the União party and was appointed Minister of Tourism last July.
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Lira, who increasingly identified with the opposition now led by Bolsonaro (2019-2022).He had opposed some legislative proposals from the allied base that supports the progressive president.
Lula with Ana Moser (Portal/Carla Carniel)
The new sports minister takes over from the former volleyball player Ana Moserin a decision that was commented on in the media and provoked criticism from social movements that criticized the athlete’s eventual departure, confirmed on Wednesday.
In the Ports and Airports portfolio Costa Filho, 41-year-old educator, will replace former São Paulo governor Márcio Françathe Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB), the formation of the Vice President, Geraldo Alckmin.
The two new ministers also come from the north-east of the country, a region where Lula has great political strength and has always won in the elections in which he has taken part.
França, in turn, will head the new Ministry of Micro and Small Enterprises, which Lula had already expressed his desire to create.
The official appointment and taking of possession takes place in agreement with the Presidium after the return to the country of Lula, who will attend the G20 summit in India this weekend.
With the reform, Lula keeps the PSB, a historic progressive party that has almost always been on his side, in his cabinet and lures Republicans and the PP, currently divided in Congress, into his base.
Jair Bolsonaro has been disqualified and will no longer be able to run for elections until 2030 (Tania Regio/Agencia Brazil/dpa)
Among the 513 MPs who make up the lower house, The PP has 49 representatives and the Republicans have 41.
To consolidate his support base, Lula began his third term on January 1 with 37 ministries, 14 more than his predecessor Bolsonaro, and he had already changed two names before this Wednesday’s reform.
Referring to the layoffs in an interview, Lula said: “It’s always hard to tell [a un ministro]”Look, I’m going to need the ministry because I’ve made an agreement with a party and I have to take care of it. But that’s politics.”
After the coup attack on January 8, when radical Bolsonarists attacked and looted the headquarters of the three powers in Brasilia, Lula replaced the general Marco Goncalves Dias of the Institutional Security Cabinet (GSI).
Gonçalves Dias was also replaced by General Marcos Antonio Amaro.
In July, Tourism Minister Daniela Carneiro, who was caught up in a corruption scandal, was replaced by Sabino.
(With information from EFE)