Dilma gives ultimatum and Palocci speaks to Globo today.
The president urges haste and says it would be a mistake to wait any longer to explain his enrichment; the minister gives a recorded interview in Brasília to Jornal Nacional; will he be convincing?
At the end of a morning of meetings with his staff from the Chief of Staff's office, Chief Minister Antonio Palocci decided that he will give an interview today to Jornal Nacional, on Rede Globo television, to try to explain to the country his sudden enrichment over the last four years. Palocci is following the advice of President Dilma Rousseff, who asked him to make a statement as soon as possible, not waiting for the pronouncement of the Attorney General of the Republic, Antonio Gurgel. As a communication strategy, the choice of Globo for the interview seems quite risky. All other media outlets, including Brasil 247, would equally like to hear Palocci's account of the twenty-fold increase in his assets in four years. Why the discrimination? Wouldn't a collective interview be more ethical and correct, given the importance and interest the subject arouses?
The interview will be given to a reporter from the station in Brasília. The advisors discussed with the minister the possibility of him also giving interviews to one or more newspapers. So far, the decision is to speak only to Jornal Nacional. Dilma told Palocci yesterday that it is "a mistake to wait" for the opinion of the Attorney General's Office to refute the accusations, because the damage is already affecting the government.
The PT's National Executive Committee, meeting yesterday, washed its hands of the matter and did not issue a single statement in defense of Palocci. "We did not address the merits of the issue. The minister told me he will comment on his consulting work," stated the president of the PT, Rui Falcão. "The Palocci issue is a matter for the government, not the PT," added the party's communications secretary, federal deputy André Vargas (PR).
"The problem in Brazil is not Palocci. The problem is not letting this episode paralyze the government," insisted the PT's Secretary of Mobilization, Jorge Coelho. Although Falcão offered a timid defense of Palocci, party leaders left the meeting saying that the minister was "limping" and "staggering." "What impacted the PT the most was the revelation that Palocci earned R$ 10 million between November and December, after having been the coordinator of Dilma's campaign," said a party leader.