Board approves Mercadante to chair Brazil’s development bank BNDES

The Board of Directors of the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) unanimously approved on Wednesday 25th, the name of Aloizio Mercadante, to chair the institution.

The board also approved Tereza Campello, Natalia Dias, and Helena Tenorio as part of BNDES’ board of directors.

Alexandre Corrêa Abreu, José Luis Gordon, Nelson Barbosa, and Luiz Navarro have already been nominated and hold positions as directors of the institution.

Because of his longtime militancy in the PT (currently, Mercadante presided over the Perseu Abramo Foundation, a branch of the PT (progressive-globalist), and was coordinator of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s government plan), there were doubts as to whether his appointment violated the State Law.

The law prohibits the appointment of people who have worked in the last 36 months as a participant in the decision-making structure of a political party or work linked to the organization, structuring, and execution of an electoral campaign.

On January 10, the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU) responded to a query from the government, considering there was no legal impediment to appointing the former minister to the command of BNDES.

Mercadante was minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation, of Education, and the Civil House in Dilma Rousseff’s (PT) governments.