Brazil: Bolsonaro confirms cabinet reshuffle due to presidential elections

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro confirmed on Thursday, March 10, that there would be a cabinet reshuffle in less than a month, as at least eight of his current 23 ministers have announced they will leave the government to participate in elections next October.

According to the president, the heads of the portfolios of Women, Family, and Human Rights, Agriculture, Infrastructure, Tourism, Regional Development, Citizenship, Science and Technology, and the Ministry of Government Secretariat will leave their posts by April 2 at the latest, the deadline for participating in the elections.

According to Brazilian electoral law, public office holders must give up their posts six months before the elections to run for elected office.

Next October, Brazilians will elect the president, vice-president, governors, and members of Congress.

The first round will be held on October 2, and the second round is scheduled for October 30.

In his weekly live broadcast on social media, the Brazilian leader said that most of those who have confirmed will run for Congress – five for the Senate and one for the House of Representatives.

He also said that two of them will run for governor: João Roma, the current Minister of Citizenship, who aspires to win the mandate in Bahia, a state historically governed by leftist parties, and Tarcisio Gómez de Freitas, who heads the Infrastructure portfolio, who will run for governor of São Paulo, one of the most coveted posts in the country because it is the most populous and industrialized state in Brazil.

“We have high hopes for Tarcisio in São Paulo, but everyone here really has a chance to be elected,” Bolsonaro said.

The current president, who is seeking re-election in October, is counting on several of them to help him boost his campaign for the election. According to the partial and biased mainstream media, the big favorite among Brazilians for the Executive position is former president, convicted for corruption, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

According to mainstream media, Lula da Silva is ahead in the polls, with over 42% favoritism against Bolsonaro with 28%.

With information from EFE