Lula to Earn Salary as Workers’ Party Leader

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – This year the Workers’ Party (PT) has started paying a salary to ex-president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The exact amount of remuneration granted by the party to its main leader has not been disclosed by the party leadership.

In addition to the salary, Lula receives a political amnesty pension of just over R$6,000 for having been persecuted by the military dictatorship. Before becoming a target of Lava Jato lawsuits, the ex-president complemented his income with monthly collections from his lecture company, but his assets were blocked. The interest in his lectures also faded after he began to be investigated.

In June last year, the federal judge of the 13th Federal Court of Curitiba, Luiz Antonio Bonat, ordered the blocking of R$77.9 (US$18.5) million of the ex-president’s assets, in compliance with a motion by the Federal Prosecutor’s Office (MPF) in the case where the leftist is charged with having received a kickback from Odebrecht through the purchase of two properties.

In July 2017, the Regional Court of the 4th Region (TRF-4) upheld the decision of then Judge Sérgio Moro to block R$16 million from the ex-president in the Guarujá Triplex case to compensate for damages to public coffers.

The judge also called for the blocking of R$606,700 as compensation for damages to Petrobras for his conviction of corruption and money laundering in the same case.

In addition to the amount deposited in four banks – Caixa (R$123,800), Bank of Brazil (R$397,600), Bradesco (R$63,700) and Itaú (R$21,500) – two cars (a 2013 Ford Ranger pickup truck and a 2010 Omega CD) and four properties in São Bernardo do Campo (SP), three apartments and the Engenho da Serra farm in the Riacho Grande district, were frozen.

In a speech outside the ABC Metalworkers Union, on November 9th, after being released after 580 days in prison, Lula complained about his financial situation:

“If they turn me upside down, a coin won’t fall out of my pocket”.

It’s not the first time Lula has received a salary from the PT. Before he was elected president of the country in 2002, he was paid by the party with a signed worker’s record book.

Now, the ex-president’s salary will be equivalent to that of other party leaders. Lula is honorary president of the PT. PT members with no congressional mandate and an exclusive commitment to the party are paid monthly. Given the lack of cash resources, the amounts have been reduced in recent years.

Last year, salaries reached R$20,000. In 2017, they were up to R$26,000. In order to contain costs, the leaders no longer have registrations in their worker’s record books and are now paid as legal entities.

The PT presidency intends to reduce the amounts that were being paid in 2019. Lula’s salary would be included in this new threshold. In addition to salary, the party will continue, as it already does, to finance the ex-president’s trips to political activities in Brazil and abroad. Since December, the ex-president has been working at least once a week at the party headquarters in downtown São Paulo.

The PT, like most of the Brazilian parties, relies mainly on resources from the party fund. This year, the party should be awarded approximately R$100 million, being the second largest beneficiary of funds, behind only the PSL, which will be awarded R$110 million. In addition, the party also relies on member contributions and a monthly fee paid by politicians with an elective mandate.

With the salary he will receive from the PT, Lula is expected to rent a house in São Paulo to live with his girlfriend, Rosângela Silva, known as Janja. The ex-president no longer intends to live in São Bernardo do Campo, where he owns an apartment.

The settlement on salary was on the agenda of Lula’s first talks with the PT leadership this year. Furthermore, the ex-president’s calendar of activities in early 2020 was agreed upon during these meetings.

He will go to Rio to celebrate the PT’s 40th anniversary next weekend. The party intends to prioritize activities in the state to offset President Jair Bolsonaro’s popularity there. Next week, Lula will travel to Europe for an audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican.

Source: Globo