Candidate for vice-president on the ticket of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), Geraldo Alckmin (PSB) started to be quoted to command the economic policy in a possible new PT government, according to sources familiar with the discussions, who emphasized that the decision remains open.
The choice of minister will be made by Lula only after the elections – in the event of a victory for the pair, which leads the opinion polls –, seeking to reflect the alliances forged for the candidacy, said four sources consulted by Reuters. Even so, the name of the former governor of São Paulo has emerged in the debates.
A key player in the campaign as a guarantor of the political and fiscal moderation that the former PT president wants to signal, Alckmin has been an interlocutor for representatives of various economic sectors. A former historical opponent of Lula —he ran against the PT for the Planalto in 2006—, the former toucan is well-regarded by businessmen and the financial market for being identified as a voice at the center of the political spectrum.
“There are several candidates who fulfill the conditions to be good finance ministers, certainly Alckmin is one of them, he is a competent administrator, he has been governor more than once, he is qualified”, said Guido Mantega, who headed the Ministry of Finance between 2006 and 2014 in the PT administrations.
Two other sources linked to Lula confirmed, privately, that Alckmin’s name is among those considered for the command of the ministry in a possible PT government.
Federal deputy Alexandre Padilha, who has also connected Lula’s campaign to sectors of the financial market, pointed out that Alckmin has been a “very loyal and important candidate in political dialogue and with economic actors”, adding that he “certainly” will have active role in an eventual Lula government.
Padilha stressed that the choice of the minister to lead the economic team will not be anticipated, while the focus remains on winning the election.
“Some economic actors got used to the Bolsonaro model, of a president who needed to outsource economic policy and present the name of the economy from the beginning of the campaign because he had no credibility,” said the deputy.
“President Lula is different from Bolsonaro, he is not an unknown figure; on the contrary, he led the country in its best economic moment of growth, reduction of inequality and health of public accounts. President Lula is more experienced and associated with a vice that also has a responsible history from the point of view of health of public accounts”, added Padilha.
The political stature and the accumulation of positions of the former governor weigh against a possible nomination. If Alckmin is in fact raised to the command of the Farm in case of victory at the polls, the arrangement could be politically more complicated to be undone. In case of dissatisfaction, removing him would open a crisis in a crucial portfolio and involving an already powerful deputy, also seen as ballast of fiscal responsibility.
It would not be the first time, however, that Lula had a vice president occupying a post on the Esplanade of Ministries — albeit in a much less sensitive portfolio than the Treasury. Business leader José Alencar, PT’s deputy in his two terms in the presidency between 2003 and 2010, was his defense minister for just over a year in his first term, having left office to run in the following elections.
OTHER NAMES IN THE RACE
Two other sources, who participate in the economic debates, but spoke on condition of anonymity, highlighted that other names are still in the running for the position, in line with the strategy already exposed by Lula in meetings with businessmen and even in speeches: the former president has repeated that he wants a minister with a political profile for the post.
PT members include the governor of Bahia, Rui Costa, the former governor of Piauí Wellington Dias, Padilha himself and Fernando Haddad, the current candidate for the government of São Paulo, if he does not win the state election.
Outside the PT, another candidate is Josué Gomes, president of Fiesp (Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo) and son of José Alencar, Lula’s former deputy who died in 2011.
Noting that he had participated in all of Lula’s presidential campaigns since 1989, Mantega stated that the decision on the issue will only be taken after the election results, because it is necessary to guarantee governability through indications of qualified allies, including the PSB, Alckmin’s party. .
“He [Lula] you can even think when you’re alone with his pillow, but you’ll never be talking about it before the election is over, it’s a reasonable tactic, since if you start appointing ministers before the election ends, you can lose allies and disaggregate forces “, said.
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