Lula set to miss his own cabinet deadline
source:By Jonathan Wheatley in S㣯 Paulo Eoin Callan 1999-12-31 11:00:00President Luiz In㡣io Lula da Silva of Brazil is likely to miss another self-imposed deadline on Friday by failing to name the ministers who will implement policies in his second four-year mandate. ×Ö´®2
The delays, caused by political horse trading, have left large parts of his government treading water and will test Mr Lula da Silva¡¯s promise of 5 per cent annual economic growth. ×Ö´®5
On Wednesday the government said gross domestic product grew by 2.9 per cent last year, far behind Brazil¡¯s peers. The International Monetary Fund expects average growth for emerging markets in 2006 of 6.5 per cent. ×Ö´®1
Mr Lula da Silva, who was re-elected last October, delayed naming his ministers until his re-inauguration, and again until after elections for leaders of the two houses of Congress on February 1. He further postponed the decision until after last week¡¯s Carnival and then again until Friday. ×Ö´®7
He is now expected to wait until after the national convention on March 11 of the PMDB, the largest party in Congress and a fractious agglomeration of regional interests. David Fleischer, a political analyst, said: ¡°The second Lula government has not hit the ground running, but stumbling.¡± ×Ö´®2
Mr Lula da Silva has made clear that sharing power among the 11 parties in his coalition has more to do with the size of each party¡¯s representation in Congress than with the suitability of individual candidates for the 34 ministerial posts on offer. ×Ö´®7
His aides failed to reach agreement with the PMDB in his first term because the party demanded too much in return for sharing power with the president¡¯s left-leaning PT, the second biggest party in Congress.
The government¡¯s subsequent need to share power with smaller parties is blamed on the scandal over cash for votes in Congress that paralysed much of Mr Lula da Silva¡¯s first term. ×Ö´®4
His difficulties have been exacerbated by tensions between pro- and anti-government factions within the PMDB. The rift will come to a head in the elections for its leadership on March 11.