Guedes casts doubt on participation in Bolsonaro’s 2nd term

Minister Paulo Guedes (Economy) questioned this Monday (21) his participation in a possible second term of President Jair Bolsonaro (PL). He said there would be enthusiasm if what he calls an alliance between conservatives and liberals continues, but left the scenario open if the government becomes only conservative.

“That’s what I say about enthusiasm. If you have the belief inside [bate no peito], if you see that this alliance of conservatives and liberals is following, you are excited. Now, if it’s just a conservative government and it doesn’t have … “, he said, without completing the sentence.

“I believe in President Bolsonaro, I think he wants the path to prosperity. Now, there are attractions, there are environments, there are people who want to divert him, there are people who think that state-owned companies are good, that Correios, Casa da Moeda, Petrobras they have to stay with the government itself. Then if you change from left-wing leadership to right-wing leadership, we know the historical experiences and what will happen”, he said.

The statements were given after a series of questions on the subject during an interview with the program Direto ao Ponto, on TV Jovem Pan News.

This is the first time that the minister has publicly questioned his continuity in government if Bolsonaro is reelected. as showed the sheetthe minister was already showing signs that he needed support for his agenda to continue.

Allies claimed that the minister could continue to side with Bolsonaro in the campaign, but stressed that the difficulties accumulated over the course of the government would now demand a guarantee of support from the president for the liberal program.

Despite this, Guedes said on Monday that he does not regret having entered the government and that, today, he would answer “yes” to his eventual stay in a second term. “As long as I have his trust [Bolsonaro] and enthusiasm, we’ll be together. I trust him,” she said.

The minister said he will be on the side of “the centre-right” in the elections. “A thousand times there is this confrontation between center-right and left, a thousand times I am with the center-right. The left has a soft heart, but a soft brain”, he affirmed.

The minister, who has expressed frustration on other occasions with the lack of progress on the liberal agenda and has already regretted the lack of support for his agendas, said in the interview that he underestimated the resistance of the “establishment”. Even so, he said he still believes in the privatization of Eletrobras – although not that the process will be completed in the first half of the year.

“We believe in the continuation of our privatization program. [O governo] you’ve done what you had to do, the studies are advancing and now it’s just the mechanics to turn”, he said. “We would like it to happen as soon as possible [mas] we don’t believe it will be so fast, even in the first semester”, he said.

Eletrobras is already approved in the Chamber and Senate and, recently, received the green light from the TCU (Union Court of Auditors).

The minister criticized the idea of ​​adjustments for state and municipal civil servants, saying that the recent improvement in their accounts cannot be turned into an electoral spree. He also recalled that the federal government is divided between giving increases in a concentrated way only for a few categories or something more dissipated for all.