Folha: Lula is a perfect chieftain

247 – Lula's intention to assume a central role in the federal government to forge alliances was once again criticized by Folha. According to Otávio Frias's newspaper, Lula is behaving like a perfect political boss. Read the editorial:

Chief Lula

After presiding over a meeting with Haddad's secretaries, the former president continues down the path of personalism and announces an offensive in the federal sphere.

In the words of former minister Paulo Vannuchi, current member of the board of the Lula Institute, the former president, starting next month, will "throw all his energy" into the effort to consolidate alliances between the forces that support the Dilma Rousseff government. The task of the Workers' Party leader would be to identify conflicts and seek to overcome them.

Lula will not need much effort to accomplish the first part of the mission. The conflicts are already, for the most part, known.

The allies, especially the PMDB members, complain about the PT's rivalry and the way President Dilma treats their self-serving demands. They claim the presidential palace is proving more rude and less sensitive than they would like.

Furthermore, the ambitions of the governor of Pernambuco, Eduardo Campos, for the Presidency of the Republic are a cause for concern. The candidacy of the PSB leader as early as 2014 would undoubtedly weaken Dilma's reelection campaign.

To mend these fractures, the former president's famous smooth talk will not be enough. He will have to offer positions, advantages, and even hint at the distant possibility of supporting a non-PT candidate in the 2018 election.

In this context, it is worth remembering that Lula does not hold a government position. Although nothing prevents him from participating in political maneuvering and defending his ideas and proposals, it would be more appropriate for him to act discreetly and give preference to institutional channels, such as debate within his party.

When it comes to the PT (Workers' Party), however, there is no party structure. Or, if there is, it is entirely filled by the figure of Lula. "Le parti c'est moi" (I am the party) could be his motto, in the worst personalist tradition of Brazilian politics. Contrary to the change of habits that PT once advocated, the former president behaves like a perfect political boss.

The success in the election of President Dilma and, subsequently, Mayor Fernando Haddad in São Paulo, seems to have rekindled in Lula the spark of omnipotence. The setback in the Mensalão trial, in turn, seems to have spurred the decision to suggest to everyone that he is still in control.

That's what he did recently, in an embarrassing scene, when he presided over a meeting between Haddad and his secretaries. Without any shame in referring to his "puppet" as a "puppet," he took command of the table, outlined guidelines, and gave instructions to his protégé and his collaborators.

The same thing is happening at the federal level, where a new offensive is now being announced. In both circumstances, interference creates undesirable noise and diminishes the figure of those in power. Who has the final say? Whom should the top echelon support in case of disagreements?

The question would seem absurd in any serious democracy, but it is pertinent in this scenario where the former president appears tempted to continue governing without having been elected. It is a disservice that Lula does by allowing these questions to remain unanswered.