Brazil elections 2022: Lula da Silva’s running mate could be key minister

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, leading in the polls ahead of Brazil’s presidential elections, could appoint his running mate to head a key ministry as part of his commitment to pursue a moderate political and economic agenda if he wins the election, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Specifically, Gerardo Alckmin could be appointed to key ministries such as Finance or Agriculture, said the people, who asked to remain anonymous because the discussions are not public.

According to one of them, his name gained strength to lead the economic team of an eventual government.

The alliance with Alckmin was seen as a significant gesture that Lula da Silva was moving away from the more radical areas of his party, the Workers’ Party (PT), and closer to visions that the former governor of São Paulo had represented during his political career.

Appointing him to a key post would reinforce this commitment.

Asked about this, a representative of da Silva’s campaign said that cabinet posts would not be discussed before the elections.

Alckmin’s press office said that there have been no discussions about government positions and that he is focused on winning the elections.

If da Silva defeats President Jair Bolsonaro next month, he will have to build bridges with Congress to pass reforms and with investors worried about Brazil’s public accounts.

Financial markets are especially worried about his promises to eliminate the country’s most important fiscal rule, a spending cap limiting government spending to the previous year’s inflation rate, to boost social programs and public investment.

During the campaign, Alckmin was already tasked with building bridges with agribusiness, industry, and the financial sector.

With less than three months before the first round, opinion polls show that voting intentions are practically settled for the favorites, with Lula da Silva getting 42% of the vote and Bolsonaro 34% in an FSB/BTG Pactual poll published early Monday.

The incumbent gained one percentage point from the previous poll, while da Silva lost one percentage point; both moved within the two percentage point margin of error.

A FINANCE CHIEF WITH A POLITICAL VISION

Lula da Silva, who has already said he wants his finance minister to have “political vision and versatility,” will not make decisions on cabinet members before he is chosen, said one of his top advisors, adding that Alckmin would play an important role in any scenario.

Other names have also been cited for the post of the economy chief, such as former health minister Alexandre Padilha, a close Lula da Silva ally, and São Paulo gubernatorial candidate Fernando Haddad, should he lose the race.

When he was first elected president in 2002, Lula da Silva surprised financial markets by choosing Antonio Palocci, a physician and former mayor of a mid-sized city in São Paulo state, as his finance minister, the most powerful cabinet post.

With information from Bloomberg