President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) said he intends to keep Paulo Guedes in the Ministry of Economy in an eventual second term, but that he does not know if the 73-year-old minister would like to remain in the position due to his age.
In an interview on Wednesday night (12) with TV Alterosa, an affiliate of SBT in the state of Minas Gerais, the president praised Guedes’ performance in the role, adding that, so far, no minister has announced his intention to leave the government. if he is re-elected.
“Paulo Guedes is a person who is our Pelé, let’s say, in the Economy. So, for me, he continues. I don’t know because of his age if he wants to continue”, he said.
Last Sunday (9), Bolsonaro had been asked about the maintenance of the current holder of the portfolio. In an interview with the Pilhado podcast, he replied that, if it depends on him, everyone stays. Before he could elaborate on the answer, he was interrupted, and the subject dropped.
Although he has already declared on other occasions that he intends to continue with Guedes in office in a possible new government, the reelection candidate left room for doubt by avoiding answering a direct question on the subject.
In this Wednesday’s interview, made alongside the governor of Minas Gerais, Romeu Zema, Bolsonaro was more assertive. “Paulo Guedes stays. Paulo Guedes was one of the best Ministers of Economy in the world, even taking into account the issue of the pandemic. [Assim] As Roberto Campos for the third year in a row is the best minister in some of the Central Bank’s criteria”.
When questioning Bolsonaro about the minister’s permanence, presenter Ricardo Carlini alluded to the statement by former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) that he would not define a name before the end of the elections. “Sometimes I hear something like ‘you can’t say who’s going to be the minister, otherwise there’s a problem, otherwise everyone wants to, they can’t talk’,” said the interviewer, in a tone of irony.
The PT candidate has said that the composition of ministries will only take place after the second round, even to deter egos and the risk of early internal disputes. However, he has already expressed his intention to appoint someone with a more political profile, to act with ease in negotiations with the National Congress, but he never mentioned possible candidates.
Faced with the fierce result of the presidential election in the first round, the economic field proves to be a relevant trench in the dispute between the two candidates.
In August, Paulo Guedes had declared his intention to remain. “I always have to say yes. What am I going to say? I’m going to throw the win to the other side, say I’m leaving, I’m liberal and I’m disappointed? There is no such thing,” he said.
Since then, the minister has taken on a more prominent role for Bolsonaro’s re-election, raising the tone of the campaign at events and meetings with businessmen.
In recent weeks, Guedes has used the state structure more than once to extol the economy during his administration. In addition, he associated ex-President Lula with the “capeta”, promised to review the cut of funds in the Popular Pharmacy, zero the IPI (Imposto sobre Produtos Industrializados) and keep Auxilio Brasil at R$ 600.
as showed the Sheet, the use of the state structure during the campaign can constitute irregularity and electoral crime. Although campaigning is not prohibited, experts believe that the head of the economic team can violate the electoral law and practice an act of administrative impropriety when using the state structure and its position in the government to favor the candidate for reelection.
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