The time has come for Fernando Haddad.

* Originally published in Citizenship Blog

On the first day of 2013, thousands of mayors will take office in every corner of the country, but, over the next four years, attention will turn to the municipal administration that promises to have the greatest potential to decisively influence national politics.

For those interested in mysticism or numerology, Fernando Haddad, a native of São Paulo, is a real treat. On January 25th, São Paulo's anniversary, he will be celebrating his 50th birthday while in office as mayor.

The symbolism is fitting for the importance that the administration of the most eminent member of the new generation of politicians that the PT, thanks to the work of former president Lula, began to give to the country on the first day of the year before last, with the inauguration of President Dilma Rousseff, will have.

However, the new mayor's mission will not be easy. He is taking command of a megalopolis plunged into chaos, although, from a financial point of view, thanks to the country's good situation, it does not face significant problems.

And this chaos in São Paulo is very visible, real, and, in fact, it was what elected Haddad to govern the richest and most problematic capital in the country. Transportation, health, education, and public safety are the most evident problems, although they are far from being the only ones.

What makes Haddad's administration so important, therefore, is the response it will give to the distress felt by more than ten million people in São Paulo who, like most Brazilians during Lula's election in 2002, after years of poor PSDB (Brazilian Social Democracy Party) administration, are appealing to the PT (Workers' Party) to fix the damage that the right wing always does when it governs.

To focus only on São Paulo, Luiza Erundina, then with the PT (Workers' Party), was elected to repair the damage done by Jânio Quadros, and Marta Suplicy to repair the damage done by Paulo Maluf and Celso Pitta.

Having assumed the position of mayors of São Paulo after veritable swarms of locusts swept through the city's administration, the Workers' Party members still had to contend with the local press, which is by far the most biased and partisan in the country.

Erundina and Marta were targets of the eternal smear campaign waged by the conservative press in the Southeast against the PT (Workers' Party), launched against them with an eye on national politics. And at a time when the PT is under the most furious attack from this press, Haddad is likely to become a target in the coming months.

During the recent election campaign, the Workers' Party candidate proved himself a star. Possessing impeccable oratory skills and wit, he outshone the experienced José Serra in debates where he didn't seem like a novice compared to a seasoned veteran of national politics.

Now, however, comes the difficult part. Haddad will not confront the calamitous situation in which a city is immersed, a situation for which few see a real solution in the short and medium term, with rhetoric and catchy phrases.

The big problem is that the population doesn't want to… Or rather, can't wait any longer. Living in São Paulo has become a real torture. People aren't willing to wait much longer to start seeing at least some results.

Choosing priorities and presenting some results that symbolize that a new path begins to be forged on January 1, 2013, will also be a matter of political survival, since Haddad is already seen by the right-wing media as a resounding threat.

If he finishes his first term with a positive approval rating and is re-elected, by 2018 the "newest" political model that the PT (Workers' Party) is presenting to the country will automatically be qualified to run for president or at least for governor of São Paulo. That's no small feat.