Minister of Mines and Energy has resistance to placate executive secretary

In the first week of the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), the automatic dismissal of 1,204 people who held positions of trust in the management of Jair Bolsonaro (PL) caused unease. Several ministries were affected in those first days by these and other dismissals, but the recomposition of the team became a problem in the MME (Ministry of Mines and Energy).

The new minister, Alexandre Silveira, who left the post of senator (PSD-MG) to head the portfolio, encounters resistance to nominate the executive secretary he chose.

Silveira prefers Bruno Eustáquio, who was deputy executive secretary of the MME and executive secretary of the Ministry of Infrastructure in the Bolsonarist administration. But this curriculum was not well received in the government. According to Sheet found out, Eustáquio’s nomination was rejected this Thursday (12).

Lula had guaranteed autonomy to the ministers to form their teams, but after the terrorist acts on Sunday (8), the government became more rigid in the analysis of the second echelon of the ministries. People who follow the negotiations say that the PT president, Gleisi Hoffmann, was one of the people close to Lula who advised against hiring.

wanted by SheetHoffmann reinforced that the moment requires common sense from the allies.

“The ministers who are in our alliance must have a minimum of sensitivity and political clarity not to bring into the government those who were with Bolsonaro and governed with him”, said the PT president. “It’s a question of respect for the popular vote and respect for President Lula.”

Minister Alexandre Silveira, however, still tried to explain his choice in a straight line.

This Friday (13), Silveira had an audience with the president. Lula held rounds of meetings with various ministers to assess the situation in each portfolio. Silveira, however, took advantage of the meeting to also explain Eustáquio’s technical attributes and try to reverse the veto, say people following the discussion.

Reports are that Lula listened, explained the moment and left the choice for next week.

TEAMS ARE OUTSTANDING

The role of executive secretary is strategic in any ministry, but even more so in this case. Silveira is an experienced politician, but he is still getting to grips with the details of energy areas. It needs a qualified technician at the post to contribute to the discussion of major issues and also to help recompose the teams, which were lacking, say people interviewed by the report.

In addition to the exonerations, the folder was submitted to the closing of vacancies, to help in the recreation or creation of others. The estimate, according to people linked to the ministry, is that the MME lost 18% of its staff. All directors of the departments, special advisors, secretaries and assistant secretaries were exonerated.

There is no director of planning, director of monitoring of the electric sector, director of oil and gas exploration. There is no head of economic advice.

The climate in the folder is described as terrible due to the high number of dismissals.

According to reports by the Sheet, the dismissals of a political nature were even expected, as the previous minister, Adolfo Sachsida, is from the group close to the former president. However, most of those exonerated had technical expertise recognized by their colleagues.

Five of them, for example, were career professionals, provided by Aneel (National Electric Energy Agency).

The executive secretary, Hailton Madureira, who cannot even wait for a replacement, served in different governments, including the PT one. During Dilma Rousseff’s tenure, he worked with former Treasury Secretary Arno Augustin. He was also Secretary for Infrastructure Development at the Ministry of Planning from 2016 to 2018, under Michel Temer.

In the betting exchange for the position of executive secretary, career public servant André Pepitone, who worked at Aneel and was appointed financial director of Itaipu by Bolsonaro, and also Efrain da Cruz, former director of Aneel, close to politicians from the Bolsonarist support base.

This Friday (13), some executives from entities in the sector mobilized in an attempt to place in office a name with no connections to the previous government, Rui Altieri, chairman of the Board of Directors of CCEE (Electric Energy Commercialization Chamber).

The choice of the executive secretary is vital for another segment, fund and investment managers.

The change of government always represents the redefinition of sensitive issues. Currently, there are doubts, for example, about the fate of Eletrobras and the policy of decoding, as the energy trading regime is called. For the financial market, the definition of the executive secretary of the MME will signal the direction of public policy and, by extension, help in defining the destiny of billions in investments.

MME SAYS THAT RESTRUCTURING IS NATURAL

Sought by the report, the MME’s communication department said that the portfolio is naturally going through a process of restructuring and team building.

“Within this context, at no time were the actions developed by the ministry harmed”, states the text sent to the Sheet. “The MME continues working to guarantee the well-being of Brazilian men and women. Shortly, nominations for the ministry’s leadership positions should be published.”

The report sent a message to Bruno Eustáquio, who did not comment until the publication of this text.