MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Lula to give free rein to economic team, but not too loose

Lula's transition team also explained that the Economy Ministry is to be split into Finance and Planning

Brazil's President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Friday said that whoever is appointed economy minister under him will have the necessary autonomy so long as he or she does not forget who was the one elected for the people to rule the country, which meant that the head of state will not be absent from the most relevant decisions.

 “People need to know that I won these elections to govern for the most humble people in this country,” Lula said during the first press conference he held at the transition government's headquarters in the Banco do Brasil Cultural Center in Brasilia.

Among the non-negotiable measures his advisors will need to implement is a minimum wage increase tied to the growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), a policy already in place in previous Workers' Party (PT) governments. “There is no point in the GDP growing 10% and the people not participating in it,” Lula said.

Lula also said he has “80% of the ministries in his head”, but that he will only announce the names after he is given the President-elect diploma on Dec. 12 by the Superior Electoral Court (TSE).

“The base of my ministry will be the base that I had in my second term, plus the Ministry of the Originary Peoples,” said Lula. “We need to give a sign of respect to the indigenous population that lives in our country,” he added.

Lula's transition team also explained that the Economy Ministry is to be split into Finance and Planning, Agencia Brasil reported.

PT Chairwoman Gleisi Hoffmann, who will not be a minister, was always by the president-elect's side during the press conference. “Being the party chairwoman today is as important, or even more important, than being a minister,” Lula said.

The president-elect showed confidence in the approval of the Proposal of Amendment to the Constitution (PEC) sent to Congress on Monday (28) to modify the budget. The text proposes, for example, the removal from the spending ceiling of the R$ 600 benefit of the Auxílio Brasil program, which should be renamed Bolsa Família.

“What interests me is the PEC that we sent and that has already been discussed with several leaders, with the presidents of the Senate and the House,” said Lula, when asked about what could be granted by approving the current text. “If we need to negotiate, we know how to make an agreement,” he underlined.

Lula denied that the text was including a provision for the release of amendments to the so-called “secret budget”, individual items inserted into the budget by parliamentarians, but which do not identify the project's author. The president-elect said he was in favor of parliamentary amendments, as long as they were transparent and in accordance with the budget guidelines and the political convenience of the government. “The way it is, it can't stay the way it is, I think everyone is convinced of that,” he said. (Source: Agencia Brasil)