Lula says that Dilma made a mistake in the economy in an interview with JN

The PT candidate for the Presidency of the Republic, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, said that his government will not follow the same economic policy as ex-President Dilma Rousseff (PT), in an interview with Jornal Nacional on Thursday night (25).

The PT said that Dilma is competent and was important in the Civil House, but, in the Presidency, she was wrong to insure the price of fuel and to grant exemptions from the payroll and tax exemptions.

But, according to the former president, his successor tried to reverse the mistakes and was prevented by Congress.

Asked how to face the prospects of a difficult year for the economy in 2023, with public accounts compromised, he said that he has already gone through a similar situation in his first election.

“My economists said that Brazil was broke. I took the country with more than 10% inflation, 12% unemployment, owing to the IMF. We reduced inflation to the target during my entire period, public debt fell from more than 60 % to 39% of GDP, we had a reserve and still lent to the IMF.”

Lula says that bolsonarista agribusiness is against environmental protection

The PT candidate stated that the current support of a significant portion of agribusiness for President Bolsonaro is due to policies to defend the Amazon, Pantanal and Atlantic Forest and to control deforestation.

“This is fascist and rightist agribusiness. Serious businessmen, who export, want to preserve,” he said.

Lula also said that farmers have no reason to fear MST invasions. “The MST is doing an extraordinary thing today, which is taking care of producing. The MST of 30 years ago no longer exists,” she said.

The PT also criticized the policy of facilitating the purchase of weapons by rural producers. “We want to pacify the country. Brazil can have both large and small producers.”

The candidate also stated that he intends to launch a major investment plan in infrastructure and recover stalled works: “This country will walk”.

Lula leads the voting intentions in the first round with 15 points ahead of President Jair Bolsonaro (PL), who is running for reelection. The former president has 47% of the votes, compared to 32% for the current president of the Planalto, according to a Datafolha poll released on the 18th.

The interview did not address economic issues that appear as marked differences between Lula and his main competitor, President Jair Bolsonaro (PL), who is running for reelection.

There is consensus among the main candidates that it is necessary to create rules to give more protection to workers through apps, but divergence on the future of the labor reform, made in 2017, under the management of then President Michel Temer (MDB).

Supported by the main trade unions in the country, Lula proposes in his program to revoke part of the changes made at the time. The idea is to form a negotiating table between the government, workers and entrepreneurs to formulate new legislation. The PT also wants to expand collective bargaining, mediated by unions.

Bolsonaro’s campaign signals the continuity of policies in this area, defending the 2017 reform. Minister Paulo Guedes (Economy) has not yet given up on the project to launch a new form of employment contract that makes certain employee rights more flexible (such as payment of the FGTS) to, in exchange, try to expand formalization.

In relation to privatizations, the PT proposal strengthens state-owned companies. In the most striking case, that of Petrobras, the program is to expand investments in technology and research at Petrobras, said Unicamp professor Guilherme Mello, one of those responsible for drawing up Lula’s economic program.

The former president has already made statements against the sale of Eletrobras, but the campaign has changed its tone in recent weeks. One wing of the party has said it is very difficult to reverse privatization — but understands that, despite the sale process, the government will remain the company’s largest shareholder and will exert some influence.

Guedes, Minister Bolsonaro, wants to maintain the privatization agenda. The reelection candidate ignored the future of Petrobras in the government plan, but he has already shown himself to be in favor of the operation.

The prospects for the country’s economy have also been a central issue in meetings between the two leaders of voting intentions with businessmen and executives, but with opposite signs.

Bolsonaro tries to paste on his rival the image of someone who will lead the country into crisis. At lunch on Tuesday, the president said that the adversary could transform the country into a new Venezuela.

He also promoted his government’s measures and made optimistic forecasts. According to reports, the president said that fuel and cooking gas prices will fall further in the next 40 days.

Lula, in his meetings with businessmen, has sought to convey the opposite message to what Bolsonaro is trying to paste on him.

According to people present at more than one meeting with businessmen and the former president, Lula usually says that, if elected, he will lead a government that will have predictability and credibility and that this will pave the way for the country to receive investments.

He also states that he will make a participatory management and that he will listen to different segments in the decision-making process.

Jornal Nacional this week interviewed candidates Jair Bolsonaro (PL), on Monday, and Ciro Gomes (PDT), on Tuesday. This Friday (26) the last interview will be made, with Simone Tebet (PMDB).

The four candidates with the highest voting intentions in the polls should participate in a debate this Sunday (28), organized by Band in a pool with SheetUOL and TV Cultura.