Brazil’s Estadão, newspaper of reference, on Lula da Silva’s ministers: ‘Absolutely disappointing’

Published on Saturday, Dec. 24, an editorial in the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo criticized (Estadão), one of the few newspapers of reference in Brazil, the president-elect, Lula da Silva (PT), because of the new ministers, mostly PT party members (petistas). “It is absolutely disappointing for the country to see the current composition of ministries being outlined,” it said.

Critical of President Jair Bolsonaro, the newspaper deplored Lula da Silva’s choice of ministers, which confirmed a “radically petist government,” precisely the opposite of what was repeatedly promised.

During the election campaign, Lula guaranteed that a “broad front” would make the country’s decisions.

“All the decisive posts are in charge of the PT or of people who, no matter how circumstantially they may be in another party, have always had and continue to have the same vision as the PT,” states Estadão, mentioning that the history of the acronym shows that only its members think they have the solutions for the country, without accepting dialogue with different points of view.

The newspaper goes on to say that “faced with the great needs of the country, it is frustrating – repeatedly frustrating – to see that Lula da Silva and his party have understood nothing, have learned nothing, and have changed nothing.

“In this PT-dominated ministerial composition, there is a particularly worrisome fact,” notes Estadão.

“It’s not that Lula da Silva is ‘only’ failing to keep his main campaign promise, which is serious in itself. In a democratic regime, the voter deserves more respect. The political-ideological monochrome of the ministries expresses a deep misunderstanding of the current country to be governed and the challenges ahead.”