According to Eliane, business owners can join the "Bring Back Lula" movement.
According to the Folha columnist, Dilma needs to maintain the support of the business community before it returns to the comfort of the former president.
247 - Journalist Eliane Cantanhêde, a columnist for Folha de S.Paulo, saw a political calculation in the meeting between President Dilma Rousseff and business leaders last Thursday. According to her, Dilma needs to prevent the GDP from joining the "Bring back Lula" chorus. Read below:
Trendy term: "unlock"
Eliane Cantanhêde
BRASILIA - Dilma Rousseff, who started 2013 on the wrong foot, is trying to get back on track: she has taken charge of the energy crisis, listened to the private sector, and wants key ministers to meet with business representatives this week. In the end, she will have to give an account to Lula.
The watchword is to "unlock" the economy and the government, or perhaps even to unblock Dilma herself.
She should call on the Chief of Staff, Finance Minister, and Planning Minister to meet this Tuesday with Bernardo Figueiredo, from EPL (Planning and Logistics Company), and Rodolpho Tourinho, from Sinicon (the heavy construction union). Preferably at the Presidential Palace, to give the meeting substance and visibility.
The conclusion is obvious: not even by performing magic can the BNDES (Brazilian Development Bank) leverage the immense infrastructure projects that the country needs. Therefore, the private sector has to step in. The problem is how.
Two readily available and common options are the entrenched PPPs (Public-Private Partnerships) and the concession regime, which still sting Dilma, torn between her statist side and her pragmatic mind, which clearly sees this as a way to invest in roads, ports, airports, hydroelectric plants...
The fall in investment, moreover, played a significant role in the shameful growth of 2012, which heads the long list of criticisms against the government: worrying levels in hydroelectric reservoirs, a drop in energy contracts, inflation above the target center for three years, and the embarrassing accounting maneuvers to conceal the fact that the government, according to the Sheet As of yesterday, savings of 35% were reduced in 2012.
Beyond the economic factor, there is a political calculation in Dilma's actions: she needs to maintain the support of the business community before it returns permanently to Lula's comfort zone and switches to other allied candidates or even the opposition – if it doesn't heed the cry of "Lula is back."