Lula says inequality has to be a priority, not the spending cap

Former President Lula (PT) stated that social inequality should be placed as a priority for the federal government, not the spending cap. The PT also said that it is necessary to put the “fiscal commitment” of the government of Jair Bolsonaro (PL) in the background.

Lula stated that this fiscal commitment of the current administration does everything “to guarantee money to pay the financial system and does nothing to guarantee the payment of the social debt that is historic in our country”.

“We need to recover democracy so that we can put inequality on the agenda as a priority for a government and not prioritize the spending cap,” he said. The statements were given in an interview with journalists on the morning of this Wednesday (19).

In the conversation, the former president also said that the financial system will have to learn that it should not only discuss its interests, but consider the country’s problems. “We need to discuss who is worried about the millions of Brazilians who are sleeping on the street. We have to discuss why the wage bill has fallen so much in this country, reducing purchasing power, and why 74% of families are in debt,” he continued.

The PT member also stated in the interview that it is necessary to start asking questions “for those who have always asked us questions”.

“Every time we go to a debate, people sign up to ask the question. ‘What about the fiscal debt? What about the domestic public debt? What about the external public debt? What about the interest rate?’ In other words, nobody asks how the Brazilian people are living,” he said.

The PT also stated that in order to solve problems in the country it is necessary, in the first place, “to put the poor in the budget and, secondly, to put the rich in the Income Tax”.

Lula also said that the decision to run for president only makes sense if “you have a commitment of faith.” “I cannot want to be president to solve the problem of the financial system, the problem of entrepreneurs, the problem of those who became richer in the pandemic. There is only one reason for me to be a candidate for president of the Republic: it is to try to prove that these people can be happy again,” he said.

“This country is not mine, it is not yours. It is ours. And it involves blacks, Indians, the unemployed, people who live on the periphery. not just Avenida Faria Lima, the Stock Exchange. They will also be heard, but they have to learn that there are other important sectors to decide which Brazil we want.”

In the latest Datafolha, released in December, Lula appeared leading in voting intentions. In a simulation of the second round with the current president, the PT scores 59% against 30% for Bolsonaro.

With Reuters