The awakening of Rui Palmeira

Strategically, the mayor of Maceió, Rui Palmeira (PSDB), is intensifying his appearances in the media. He has been giving more interviews on radio, TV, websites, print media, and especially, making a greater presence among the people in neighborhoods and communities.

Essentially, Rui is beginning to construct a political discourse to justify the difficulties he faces in some areas of public administration. He is targeting the government of President Dilma Rousseff (PT) for the failure to carry out public works in the capital.

This became clear on Monday (20), when comrade Lula Vilarrevealed that the mayor had demonstrated "having lost patience with the federal government", because "many of the delays in action in municipal management are due to Dilma not having forwarded the promised resources even after the approval of projects in Brasília".

Holding a prominent position in the National Front of Mayors and a natural candidate for re-election, the PSDB mayor is making a sure move to overcome the natural wear and tear of someone who fails to deliver on much of what they promised in the 2012 election.

Attacking Dilma is an accurate assessment, I repeat. The president is facing the worst moment in terms of popular approval. Ibrape survey, published here on Monday (20), reveals what the population of Maceió thinks of the PT government: 1% considered it excellent, 6% good, 16% regular, 14% bad and 62% terrible. Don't know reached 1%.

Rui Palmeira is scrambling to recover from the damage caused by the lack of support from the federal government. Right now, he hopes to boost his administration with new projects. To that end, he is seeking bank loans from local and international financial institutions. But he knows, at this moment, that he will hardly have the guarantee of the Union, a kind of guarantor.

It's important to remember that the clamor for resources and public works has come from the majority of mayors, including those from the Workers' Party.

Ultimately, in 2016 the people will go to the polls to judge them, and the federal government's spending cuts could be a decisive factor in the upcoming election.