Lula and Ciro criticize Petrobras’ price policy, as well as Bolsonaro; see candidate reaction

The announcement of new adjustments to gasoline and diesel oil was the target of demonstrations by pre-candidates for the presidency in the 2022 elections this Friday (17th). criticism from your opponents.

In the morning, the state-owned company informed that the average price of gasoline in refineries will be readjusted by 5.2% from this Saturday (18), and the value of diesel, by 14.3%.

Ahead in polls, former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) used social media to criticize Bolsonaro and contest Petrobras’ current pricing policy.

“He [Bolsonaro] invented that the solution is to reduce the ICMS, but all he will do is reduce the money for education and health in the states”, wrote Lula, in a reference to the government’s intention to contain the weight of the tax on fuels.

“We have already proved that it is possible to profit from Petrobras, selling gasoline at the price in reais. Why, after we became self-sufficient in oil, we started importing? Why impose an international price on a national product? This is a loss of sovereignty “, continued the PT.

The company’s current pricing policy follows the variation of oil and the exchange rate. Specialists, however, say that the increases announced this Friday were not enough to close the gap against international quotations.

Bolsonaro, in turn, called the gasoline and diesel readjustments a “betrayal to the Brazilian people”. He stated that he is articulating with the leadership of the Chamber of Deputies the creation of a CPI (Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry) to investigate the direction of Petrobras.

“I just talked to Arthur Lira (PP-AL), he is currently meeting with party leaders. Our idea is to propose a CPI to investigate the president of Petrobras [José Mauro Ferreira Coelho]its directors and also the administrative and fiscal council”, declared Bolsonaro, during an interview with a network in Rio Grande do Norte.

Before the state-owned company’s announcement, he wrote on social media that the company “may plunge Brazil into chaos”. “Its president, directors and advisers are well aware of what happened with the truckers’ strike in 2018, and the disastrous consequences for Brazil’s economy and the lives of our people”, he amended.

The pre-candidate Ciro Gomes (PDT) classified the announcement by Petrobras as “scorn”. He is also critical of the state-owned company’s pricing policy.

Ciro even made attacks on Bolsonaro, whom he called “banana” and “loose”.

“We have an imperial public company that is insensitive to the suffering of the people. And a banana president who does not impose himself”, he said on social media.

“Bolsonaro’s lie was unmasked: ICMS does not raise fuel prices. So is his laxity: he hides, trembling, behind Lira to try to solve the Petrobras crisis. Out, you slacker!”, he amended.

The pre-candidate Simone Tebet (MDB) defended the idea that it is possible to find alternatives to the situation of high fuel prices.

“Whoever wants to, decides. Those who don’t want to, blame others. The Federal Constitution provides solutions, in the plural, to reduce the price of fuel in exceptional situations like now, creating extraordinary credit or using Union dividends”, stated on social media.

She even shared a video in which she says that Brazil needs the “necessary state”, not the “minimum state”, nor the “maximum”. “I am against the privatization of Petrobras, I have said it several times, but I am liberal in the economy and I am in favor of privatization. With me it is not 8 or 80. There is a middle way,” she said.

The pre-candidate André Janones (Avante) also questioned Bolsonaro’s performance. He said the government’s attack on Petrobras “is the first case of opposition to itself recorded in the country.”

“The theater to attack Petrobras, as if the government were not responsible for it, doesn’t work. It doesn’t have the courage to act on price policy, it sells our crude oil without taxes, it doesn’t generate interest for investment in refineries in the country and practically donates our ethanol”, he wrote.

“A man who screams for guns, doesn’t want security, wants to hide his cowardice. Unarmed, in the field of ideas, he doesn’t even have the courage to assume the responsibilities of the government he exercises. A cockroach has more decency and is cleaner than a Bolsonaro “, continued.

Petrobras argues that values ​​below those practiced in the international scenario create a risk to the supply of diesel in the country, since about 25% of the market is supplied by imported product.

“It is important to reinforce that Petrobras is sensitive to the moment that Brazil and the world are facing and understands the effects that fuel prices have on the lives of citizens,” said the state-owned company this Friday.

“In this sense, the company has sought to balance its prices with the global market, but without the immediate transfer to domestic prices of the volatility of international quotations and the exchange rate”, he added.

The cost of fuel became a headache for Bolsonaro on the eve of the elections. Inflation of products such as gasoline and diesel is seen by members of the president’s campaign as the main obstacle to reelection.

On the eve of the elections, Congress concluded the vote on a bill that establishes a ceiling for ICMS rates on fuel, one of the bets of Palácio do Planalto.

Next week, parliamentarians should also debate the so-called PEC on Fuels. The proposal authorizes the government to zero federal taxes on gasoline and compensate states that decide to reduce ICMS on diesel and cooking gas.