MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Rousseff reshuffles cabinet and gives more power to key ally PMDB and Temer

Rousseff said the reshuffle guarantees “a more stable majority” for the ruling coalition in Congress and the approval of urgently needed legislation

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Friday announced a Cabinet reshuffle that reduces the number of posts from 39 to 31 and gives a more significant role to the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, or PMDB, the country's biggest and a key ally of her Workers' Party.

 The president also announced she was cutting her salary by 10%, that of her vice president and slashing thousands of coveted jobs for political appointees,
“We know there are difficulties that have to be overcome so the country's economy starts growing again, but to achieve that we need political stability and that's also the objective of this reform,” Rousseff said in a statement at her office in justifying the PMDB's bigger role in her administration.

Rousseff said the shuffle will guarantee “a more stable majority” for the governing coalition in Congress, “governance” and the approval of legislation necessary to overcome Brazil's economic woes.

Rousseff, who announced the shakeup alongside Michel Temer, her vice president and the PMDB's top leader, needs the full support of that party to pass austerity legislation and head off an impeachment drive in Congress, opposition leaders say.

PMDB members will head up seven Cabinet posts instead of six and also be at the helm of more significant portfolios with bigger budgets, including the Health Ministry. The PMDB has a plurality in and holds the presidency of both houses of Congress. The Workers' Party will continue to have the most Cabinet posts with nine.

The Brazilian Labor Party, which had threatened to abandon the ruling coalition, now holds two Cabinet posts, while the Democratic Labor Party, some of whose members have moved to the opposition, holds one.

To reduce the size of her Cabinet, Rousseff merged the Fishing and Agriculture Ministries and also combined the Labor and Social Welfare portfolios, among other changes.

Rousseff, whose approval rating has fallen to less than 10% since being re-elected last October, has also taken a political hit from a massive contract-rigging and kickback scandal centered on state-controlled oil company Petrobras.

Most of the alleged graft occurred while Rousseff was the company's chairwoman, although she has not been implicated in the scandal.

Last month, Rousseff's administration projected that Brazil's economy would shrink 2.44% this year, compared to an earlier forecast for a 1.49% contraction.

But, despite the recession, Rousseff argues that austerity measures are needed to get the country back on track after federal, state and local governments ended 2014 with a cumulative primary budget deficit equivalent to $12.51 billion.

Brazil took another blow to the chin last month when Standard & Poor's lowered Brazil's sovereign credit rating to junk, stripping the country of the investment-grade status it had enjoyed since 2008.

Following the credit downgrade, Rousseff's administration on Sept. 14 unveiled a series of new budget proposals aimed at improving the country's fiscal situation, including cuts to infrastructure investments and social spending and the revival of a financial transactions tax.

Rousseff's effort to shore up support in Congress comes amid an impeachment drive that seeks to oust the president.

Carlos Sampaio of Brazilian Social Democracy Party, or PSDB, said the “Pro-Impeachment Movement” comprising four opposition parties was convinced there was political and legal justification for impeaching Rousseff, citing the decade-long Petrobras scandal and alleged fiscal maneuvers to disguise a budget gap last year.