If there was still any doubt about the moral north that Lula intends to give to his third government, he himself tried to resolve it in a very clear way. The handling of public affairs will be in the best “House of Carguinhos” style, the political style that the centrão likes and the voter is terrified of.
The Juscelino Filho case shows that the choice has been made, even in the absence of the PT.
As usual, the luloaffective paquitas will try to find someone to blame. It will be from Arthur Lira, from the centrão, from União Brasil, from coalition presidentialism or even all of them together. It is an offensive attitude to speak of President Lula as if he were an imbecile or a doormat at the center. I understand why his supporters insist on the narrative, but the Bolsonarist thesis of the oppressed president tends to be successful only with political fanatics.
The choice of someone for an important portfolio such as communications can involve political negotiations and this is necessary to govern. In the case of the Ministry of Communications, the negotiation with União Brasil and the centrão actually took place.
What does not happen is this simple narrative that someone gives the name and the President of the Republic simply accepts it, as if he were a five-year-old boy being scolded by the catechist. The name is put on the table and scrutinized by government intelligence. The pros and cons of each profile indicated are taken into account in the decision on the position, which is exclusive to the president.
It is very difficult to imagine that Lula did not know about Juscelino Filho’s whole affair with the use of money from the secret budget to build a road to his own farm. The government structure is competent to raise this. Lula was president twice and knows how to use the machine he has at his disposal well. It is disrespectful to treat the issue as if the president were a complete imbecile who appointed the minister without previously knowing what weighed against him.
As Juscelino Filho doubled the bet and took a FAB plane to go to an auction of purebred horses, receiving per diems according to the official schedule, things heated up. Mocked, the minister declared that he would return the per diem.
Even more mocking, Lula launched into public opinion a complete absurdity: if the minister did not prove that he is innocent, he would be fired. There is no proof that someone is innocent, it is something logically impossible. Therefore, the burden of proof rests with the accuser.
Suppose someone you accuse of buying a phone and not paying. You didn’t pay for the phone because you didn’t buy it. How can you prove you didn’t buy something? What would that proof document be? Does not exist. That’s why whoever accuses must show a document proving that there was a purchase and the debate starts there.
With the rhetorical game of a master, Lula mobilized attention around the meeting. He managed to make it seem that his decision was linked to the minister’s arguments about non-republican acts that are public. In fact, it was none of those things.
Days before the meeting, Juscelino Filho had rehired a Bolsonarist troupe at the Ministry of Communications that had been fired on the first day of the government. It was no small victory that Lula gave his minister by retaining his position.
With this attitude, Lula decides what will be the moral compass of his third term. The luloaffective paquitas have even created a narrative according to which a minister only leaves if he has a final conviction. It’s tap dancing about the most basic rules of respect for the public thing, but it sticks with fanatics.
What is worrying is that members of government communication are already beginning to reproduce this type of narrative that is far from republican and sadly similar to the most cynical moments of Bolsonarism. However, we have to know that this is not the time to criticize Lula or find excuses to support him. If people don’t act like Bolsonarism, Bolsonaro will come back.
