At the ministerial meeting held this Thursday (8), at the Planalto Palace, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva instructed the ministers to put into practice the projects already presented so far. According to the Minister of the Civil House, Rui Costa, Lula said that now is no longer the time to plant, but to reap the results. 
“The guidance is that the time has come to harvest and to implement everything that was announced. He [Lula] “We don’t want to create any more programs or new proposals. This is not a time to plant, it’s a time to water, fertilize and harvest. So, from now on, we need to take care of what was planted and make sure we can harvest until the end of the term, because if we keep trying to plant until the end of the term, we won’t harvest what we tried to plant,” said Rui Costa at the end of the meeting.
Asked about the ministers’ reaction to the freezing of R$ 15 billion in the Budget, which affected several government departments, Costa said that everyone understands that the measure is necessary.
“A cut is a cut, if adjustments are needed, no one will be smiling, but it is necessary due to the president’s reiterated commitment to his fiscal policy, to fiscal responsibility, to fiscal balance. Everyone is aware of this and life goes on,” he said.
The meeting to review one year and seven months of government was attended by all ministers, in addition to government leaders in Congress, the Senate, the Chamber of Deputies and directors of Banco da Amazônia, BNDES, Banco do Brasil, Correios, Banco do Nordeste, Petrobras and IBGE.
Elections
Lula also instructed ministers on how to conduct themselves during this year’s municipal elections. According to Rui Costa, each minister can support the candidates of his or her choice, but care must be taken when criticizing and insulting opponents.
“He wanted each minister to replicate the way of doing politics that he has defended, that is, from the waist up, defending values, defending proposals and not attacking opponents. Because each minister, even if they are not speaking in their position as minister, symbolizes the government and he would like the symbol of his government to be that each one is very emphatic in defending their candidate, but does not need to use negative adjectives,” explained the Chief of Staff.
