The president Lula (PT) swore in this Tuesday (14) the deputy José Guimarães (PT-CE) as the new minister of the Secretariat of Institutional Relations, responsible for the government’s political articulation with the National Congress.
As anticipated the SheetGuimarães was chosen by Lula to assume the position of head of the SRI (Secretariat of Institutional Relations) after the departure of Gleisi Hoffmann of the government to contest this year’s elections for senator for Paraná.
Guimarães’ appointment was published on Monday (13), while the inauguration ceremony was scheduled for this Tuesday, filling one of the halls of the Palácio do Planalto. In addition to parliamentarians, state ministers also attended the announcement.
“There is no government that works that does not have dialogue with the National Congress, it is part of democracy. I want to be, president, an instrument of building this policy with the National Congress”, he declared.
Federal deputy Paulo Pimenta, former minister of Secom (Secretariat of Communication) under Lula, takes over Guimarães’ position in the Chamber as leader of the government in the house.
The decision for Guimarães was taken last week, after consulting the government with the president of the Chamber, Hugo Motta (Republicans-PB)who also participated in this Tuesday’s ceremony.
“Giving this administrative sequence of power, replacing the ministers who will contest elections, you (Lula) invited to this ministry a citizen who is very respected by the deputies”, said Motta.
“Even when he had to disagree, Guimarães always disagreed with great skill. Guimarães, who gave all these demonstrations of correctness throughout his life, once again gives a demonstration of political correctness and commitment to the country when he gives up competing in a theoretically very well-constructed election in his state to once again place the country’s project above his own and personal interests”, he stated.
To take on the role, Guimarães gave up running as a candidate for the Senate by Ceará, a fact highlighted in a speech by Motta and Davi Alcolumbre (União Alcolumbre-AP) during the inauguration.
Unlike other ministries, SRI was without a definitive successor for about a week after the departure of the incumbent.
During discussions about Gleisi’s succession, other names were considered before Guimarães, including that of the executive secretary of the Conselhão (Council for Sustainable Social Economic Development), Olavo Noleto.
Lula gave up on nominating Noleto after reservations from Congressional leaders regarding his choice. As a result, the president began looking for a more experienced coordinator. Noleto has held several positions in PT administrations, but has never held an elective mandate, such as deputy or senator.
According to interlocutors, Lula liked Noleto’s profile, but assessed that the position required a name with experience in daily politics and knowledge about the balance of forces in Congress.
