The transition “has already begun” in Brazil: Lula’s deputy meets with Bolsonaro and his team
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The elected vice president of Brazil, Geraldo Alckmin, met this Thursday with President Jair Bolsonaro, who told him that he will collaborate with the transition of the future government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, while in the country there are still some blockades by Bolsonarists who ask for not recognize the result of Sunday’s ballot and the electoral justice said that those who are committing “anti-democratic acts” will be considered criminals.
“It was positive (the meeting). The president invited me to go to his cabinet (…), and reiterated the government’s willingness to pass on all the information so that there is a transition guided by the public interest,” said Alckmin, who leads Lula’s transition team, about the meeting, which took place outside of the agenda.
The vice president-elect avoided responding if Bolsonaro congratulated him on the victory. Before his meeting with Bolsonaro, Alckmin had led the first transition meeting with chief of staff Ciro Nogueira.
“The conversation was quite profitable, very objective, and the transition has already begun”he said at a press conference.
Alckmin, 69 years old and historical former leader of the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB), was appointed by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as coordinator of the team that will deal with the transition with the Bolsonaro administration until his inauguration on January 1, 2023.
The goal will be to exchange information to “give continuity to the services provided to the population,” starting in January, explained the vice president-elect, a conservative who was four times governor of São Paulo, the country’s largest state.
“Now we have to do it (the transition) in the best possible way, for the benefit of the population”he added.
The elected vice president was at the Planalto Palace together with the president of the Workers’ Party (PT), Gleisi Hoffmann, and the coordinator of Lula’s government program, former minister and economist Aloizio Mercadante.
The transition will have a work headquarters that will be the Banco do Brasil Cultural Center, in Brasilia, between November and December.
“Tomorrow, Gleisi and Mercadante are going to pay a visit, and we should start from Monday,” Alckmin said.according to the portal G1.
By law, the elected president has the right to form a transition team of 50 people who will have access to data from the public administration and will prepare the first measures of the new government.
Alckmin did not want to reveal the names that will make up that team yet, but said that they will come out of the coalition that supported Lula for the elections.
“As of Monday, after the meeting with President Lula, we will start disclosing the names of the transition”, declared.
Lula began a vacation on Wednesday with his wife Janja in Trancoso, Bahia, a state governed by the PT and one of the electoral pillars of his victory along with the rest of the northeast, the city of São Paulo and the state of Minas Gerais, with the eye on the makeup of his cabinet and the balance of power of his broad front from the left to the liberal center-right.
Alckmin also held a meeting this Thursday with the rapporteur for the budget in the Senate with the aim of looking for ways to include Lula’s campaign promises in federal spending for 2023.
While, In Brazil there are still roadblocks by Bolsonarist groups, which lost strength after a request from Bolsonaro yesterday for the protesters to leave the roadblocks.
The president made his first public statement on Tuesday, in a brief speech at the Alvorada Palace, the seat of government, in which he avoided accepting defeat and congratulating Lula, and barely said that he was going to comply with the Constitution.
On Wednesday, he published a video on his social networks in which he said he was “sad”, but asked his followers to “unblock the routes”, arguing that this measure “is not part of these legitimate demonstrations”.
Or commitment of the president @LulaOfficial It is to make viable the proposals chosen in the ballot box by the Brazilian population with responsibility and predictability. pic.twitter.com/NugKnQeuRc
— Geraldo Alckmin ?? (@geraldoalckmin) November 3, 2022
Alckmin, for his part, said this Thursday that “the right to circulate is sacred” and criticized that the blockades they can compromise “the health of people, the supply of hospitals” and bring “damage” to the economy.
Brazil’s Justice Minister, Anderson Torres, said Thursday on Twitter that 4,216 fines were applied, there were 20 actions by shock troops and 37 people were arrested. At the same time, he indicated that there are still two blockade points and 137 demonstrations.
For its part, the head of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), Alexandre de Moraes, said this Thursday that the result of Sunday’s elections is “indisputable” and assured that those who do not accept it and are committing “anti-democratic acts” will be considered criminals.
“The voters, for the most part, are democratic. They democratically accepted the result of the elections. Those who are not accepting it, who are practicing anti-democratic acts, will be treated as criminals,” Moraes said.
The president of the TSE participated in the first session of the court after the ballot on Sunday, in which Lula prevailed by 50.9% to 49.1% over the current president.
“The elections are over, the second round ended democratically last Sunday. The TSE proclaimed the winner, who will be recognized with a diploma before December 19 and will take office on January 1, 2023. This is democracy, this is alternation of power, this is a republican state,” Moraes said.
Since Monday, there have been roadblocks in several Brazilian states by Bolsonaro supporters who ask not to recognize the result and yesterday there were even coup protests in front of Army barracks to request the intervention of the military.
Moraes, who on Monday night determined that the Military Police was authorized to act to free the national and provincial routes, assured that the movements that block the routes are “criminal,” according to the G1 portal.
