The reincarnation of Luiz Inácio

Regarding former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, one cannot condemn his lack of sincerity. Since handing over the presidential sash to Dilma Rousseff, he has always lamented the difficulty of "disembodying" the presidency. To needle his eternal rival FHC, Lula even said he would be the best "ex" president Brazil has ever known, but the fact is that he is gradually becoming the most president-like ex-president of all time. In short, he has reincarnated.

Everything became blatantly obvious last week. First, Lula took charge of the crisis surrounding the Chief of Staff's office. With the authority of someone who truly runs the country, he decreed: Antonio Palocci stays. And he even said, at a dinner with senators, that "you can't put Pelé on the bench." Officially, Lula was talking about Palocci, but some suspected he was speaking in the first person. After all, Minister Gilberto Carvalho had also referred to Lula as a Pelé on the bench – eager to get on the field, score his goals, and run to the fans.

Days later, there was Lula again, meeting with the two main leaders of the PMDB: Michel Temer, Vice-President of the Republic, and José Sarney, President of the Senate. With the wisdom and experience of someone who has faced much more serious political crises, Lula gave Dilma a very clear piece of advice: to quickly hand over positions in ministries and state-owned companies to allies. And "allies" are not just the parties in the base, such as the PMDB, PP, and PSB. This also applies to the PT itself, because within Lula and Dilma's party there are also many people celebrating Palocci's bad luck. The most frequently heard phrase among PT members is telling: "There are evils that come for good."

The summary of the situation is simple. From now on, the Executive branch will have to be more humble and step down from its pedestal. It will be forced to govern with Congress and, as Michel Temer said, to "share the bread" with its allies. Similar to what happened in Lula's own government, when the then captain of the team, José Dirceu, was targeted by the first accusations. Although he only fell in 2005, after the mensalão scandal, he began to bleed a year earlier, in the Waldomiro Diniz case.

Both in the past and now, the rule is the same. Congress has more appreciation for weak ministers, kept in office thanks to the favors of parliamentarians, than for super-ministers. Lula already knows this and, reincarnated, passed the message on to Dilma. The bread will be shared, and the final bill, for all of society, will be more expensive.