Bloomberg — Protecting the Amazon rainforest, making Brazil self-sufficient in oil and fuel and scrapping a rule that limits public spending are among the priorities of former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva if he is elected for a third term in October.
The 34-page document setting out guidelines for his possible government, published on Tuesday, was put together by Fundacao Perseu Abramo, the think-tank of Lula’s Workers’ Party, in collaboration with six other leftist parties that make up his coalition. It is short in specifics and, according to the Workers’ Party website, intended to guide more concrete policy proposals after a period of public debate that starts now.
“We need to seriously rebuild Brazil,” Lula told reporters during an event in Sao Paulo, adding that, if elected, he will work to “again” end hunger in the country. “Brazil will only achieve sovereignty when the population is eating and earning a salary.”
See below some of the document’s most relevant points:
Environment
- “Relentless” fight against illegal deforestation, targeting zero net deforestation
- Combating illegal mining activities, particularly in the Amazon
- Protect indigenous lands, stopping predatory activities there
Petrobras and Privatizations
- Strong opposition to the current government’s plan to privatize Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PETR4), the state-owned oil company
- Changing Petrobras’s strategic and investment plans to attain national self-sufficiency in oil and petroleum products, and to ensure the supply of fuels to the country
- Read More: Petrobras Head Resigns as Bolsonaro Rages About Fuel Prices
- Against the privatization of the national postal service and Eletrobras, although it doesn’t mention reversing the sale of shares from the power utility carried out by the current administration earlier this month
Fiscal Regime, Reforms
- The document repeats Lula’s criticism of the current spending cap rule, which limits the growth of public expenditures to the previous year’s inflation rate, saying it is dysfunctional and lacks credibility
- Instead, it promises a new fiscal regime that ensures “credibility, predictability and sustainability” while allowing for the implementation of counter-cyclical fiscal policies.
- It doesn’t elaborate on what would replace the spending cap rule as a new fiscal anchor for the country
- It pledges a tax reform that would simplify the system and make sure the rich pay more and the poor, less
- It toned down initial criticism of a labor reform approved during the administration of former President Michel Temer, saying it would scrap “retrogressive” parts of the law while extending protection to autonomous workers
Inflation, Hunger
- Fighting hunger and inflation, particularly that stemming from costlier food, fuel and electricity will be a priority
- The document criticizes current policies to rein in price increases, saying the government has failed to use key instruments such as managing fuel prices and implementing policies to stimulate the production of crucial goods
- It also promises to build strategic food reserves to regulate supply.