Simone Tebet, Flávio Dino, Wellington Dias, Fernando Haddad, and Alexandre Padilha are being considered for positions in Lula's cabinet.

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - After being elected president of Brazil for the third time, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is still keeping his cabinet members a secret, but trusted names like Alexandre Padilha, Fernando Haddad, Wellington Dias, and Flavio Dino, as well as more recent but essential campaign allies like Simone Tebet and Marina Silva, have virtually guaranteed places in the top ranks.

The answer to the most frequent question Lula has been asked since the beginning of his campaign—who will be his Minister of Finance—will likely lie within these names from the Workers' Party (PT). However, according to sources consulted by Reuters, this is a subject Lula doesn't discuss even with his closest associates.

"He banned that debate, and he's not wrong. In a close election, anything that anticipates the outcome sounds very bad," said a member of the Workers' Party who is very close to the president-elect.

The names circulating for the position include federal deputy Alexandre Padilha, senator-elect Wellington Dias, former governor of Piauí, former mayor of São Paulo Fernando Haddad --defeated on Sunday in the election for governor of the state-- and former Minister of Finance under Temer Henrique Meirelles, who recently reconciled with Lula.

However, sources assure that the bets are being placed solely on recent campaign moves, without any clear indication from Lula.

"Nothing has changed in the last month. There isn't a leading name at the moment; it's all speculation because those who decide continue to remain silent," says a source from the campaign's economic team.

Alexandre Padilha's name has been appearing more recently because the congressman has been a constant presence at dinners and lunches with businesspeople and representatives of the financial market to discuss Lula's proposals. Wellington Dias has played this same role several times before.

According to one source, however, Padilha is currently the frontrunner for the Chief of Staff position.

One of the names most feared by the financial market, the coordinator of Lula's government program, Aloizio Mercadante, is expected to be in the ministry, but not in the Finance Ministry, says a second source.

"It won't be a central ministry like Finance or the Chief of Staff's office. I would bet perhaps on Planning," the source said.

Beyond the economic team, some names are considered certain, but only one has been mentioned by Lula himself: Flávio Dino, former governor of Maranhão and senator-elect. Currently one of Lula's most trusted men, he will possibly be the Minister of Justice.

Senator Simone Tebet, even without being officially nominated, is a guaranteed figure in the top ranks of the government. The MDB member threw herself wholeheartedly into the PT candidate's campaign in the second round, gaining influence and winning Lula's favor.

The expectation is that the senator will head the Ministry of Agriculture, given that she comes from a state, Mato Grosso do Sul, with strong roots in agribusiness. However, she herself has hinted more than once that she would prefer to take over the Ministry of Education.

"The first word I said to Lula when we met was education," he recently said at a lunch with business leaders who support Lula before a walk along Faria Lima Avenue.

The senator's desire clashes with a traditional behavior of the PT (Workers' Party), which tends to reserve areas such as Education, Health, Social Development, and Human Rights for itself.

Also, newly elected federal deputy Marina Silva (Rede) may leave the Chamber of Deputies to assume a position that is yet to be created, that of the National Authority against Climate Change, which would work in all areas of government to implement the changes towards a green economy that Lula wants to lead.

Sources consulted by Reuters agree that Marina, who served as Environment Minister during the first five years of Lula's government, would not return to the government for the same position, but admit that she might possibly accept the post that she herself advocates for – in an interview, she left that door open.

Another who would not refuse a possible call from Lula to return to the government is former Foreign Minister Celso Amorim, who headed the Itamaraty (Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs) during Lula's first two terms and remains his main advisor on international relations.

"I have no ambition regarding that, but I cannot refuse a summons from President Lula," the diplomat told Reuters two weeks ago. Within Lula's campaign team, the assessment is that if Amorim wants to, he will return to the ministry.

Other names that, according to sources, may be part of the new government are those of Senator Randolfe Rodrigues (Rede-AP), one of the key figures in the negotiations that formed Lula's broad network of support, and Senator Jaques Wagner.

The list, however, did not yet include the necessary negotiations with the parties that supported Lula from the first round and that should be considered in some way -- in total, the Workers' Party candidate gathered 10 parties around his candidacy.

"Many people who think they'll be ministers won't be. Others that nobody expects should emerge. Lula has said he wants a lot of renewing," says one of the sources.

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