[Marxism] Lula follows Bush method...

["acpollack2@xxxxxxxx" <acpollack2@xxxxxxxx>]

... consolidates rightwing hold on cabinet

Financial Times
Lula attempts to strengthen reform coalition
By Raymond Colitt in São Paulo
Published: November 23 2004 23:27 | Last updated: November 23 2004 23:27

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil this week is preparing the second 
phase of a cabinet reshuffle designed to consolidate his ?rainbow alliance? and 
increase government efficiency.

Mr Lula da Silva will offer cabinet posts to his allies in order to help secure 
a comfortable majority in congress for his reform agenda. The centrist 
Democratic Movement party (PMDB), the largest in the Senate, and the 
centre-right Progressive Party, the fourth largest in the lower house, each 
will obtain another portfolio, presidential advisers said yesterday.

The two parties, political analysts say, are seeking ministries not only with 
large budgets but also public exposure to heighten their visibility ahead of 
the 2006 general elections. ?We want the slice of the federalgovernment we are 
owed,? said José Borba, PMDB congressman.

Mr Lula da Silva personally has lobbied PMDB congressmen during private dinner 
parties to dissuade them from abandoning their government alliance. A PMDB vote 
on the proposal is planned for December 12.

This week cabinet members of Mr Lula da Silva's Workers' party (PT) were told 
they would have to relinquish power to allies in order to construct a more 
solid coalition. ?The PT won't be an obstacle to the president's efforts 
towards a parliamentary majority, even if it means giving up [political] 
space,? said José Genoino, the PT president.

The PT hopes to relaunch its reform agenda, which has been held up in the lower 
house of congress for months, due largely to the October municipal election 
campaigns. Its two priorities are a bankruptcy law and a public-private 
partnership law, granting creditors and investors more guarantees. Next year 
the government will present bills to tackle unwieldy and costly labour and 
union laws, Aloizio Mercadante, the PT's Senate leader, told the Financial 
Times.

The reshuffle is also seen as a cleansing of ineffective government officials, 
mostly from the left wing, who had been appointed for supporting Mr Lula da 
Silva in his presidential bid. This month half a dozen key government officials 
have left office.

Carlos Lessa and Darc Costa were sacked last week as president and 
vice-president, respectively, of the large National Bank for Economic and 
Social Development. Both advocated nationalist and interventionist economic 
policies and clashed repeatedly with the more market-friendly ministers, led by 
Antonio Palocci, the finance minister.

In a further show of support for the pro-marketeers, the PT leadership rejected 
dissident calls at the weekend for a change in economic policy. It argued the 
party's recent mayoral election losses in São Paulo and Porto Alegre were due 
not to economic orthodoxy but the lack of coalitions. ?The government's 
economic policy is showing results, and there is no way it will be replaced 
with populism,? said Mr Mercadante.



Find this article at:
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/676f3112-3da5-11d9-abe0-00000e2511c8,ft_acl=,s01=1.html



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