Brazil's Lula Announces Cabinet Reshuffle

Facts

• On Wednesday, Brazilian Pres. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announced a ministry cabinet reshuffle in a bid to win congressional support for his legislative agenda from the powerful bloc of lawmakers known as Centrão.¹
• André Fufuca and Sílvio Costa Filho, who held key positions in the Jair Bolsonaro administration, have been named as the new sports minister and ports and airports minister, respectively.²
• Fufuca has replaced the former Olympic volleyball player Ana Moser, while Costa Filho has taken over the portfolio from Márcio França, who has been moved to the brand new ministry of small and medium-sized enterprises.³
• This shakeup officially brings the right-wing Progressives and Republicans parties into the Lula government for the first time, likely increasing governability and support from House Speaker Arthur Lira — a member of the Progressives party.⁴
• The two parties collectively control 90 seats in the 513-member lower chamber, with Lula and his allies expecting the shift to attract at least 60 additional votes to his base.³
• Lula first reshuffled his cabinet in July, naming federal lawmaker Celso Sabino as tourism minister to shore up support from his União Brasil party, which has 59 seats in the lower house.⁵

Sources: ¹Reuters (a), ²Dw.com, ³Bloomberg, ⁴The brazilian report and ⁵Reuters (b).

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Brasil de fato. Given that the semi-parliamentary nature of the Brazilian political system was aggravated by the political vacuum left by the Bolsonaro administration, cabinet shakeups to accommodate indications made by some Centrão leaders are vital to the government's governability. There's no other way to consolidate a permanent majority for the government in Congress on key issues.
• Narrative B, as provided by Ft. This unlikely alliance comes as Lula has faced trouble in advancing his program through the fragmented, right-leaning legislature, suffering several defeats despite progress on loosening limits on public spending and approving a tax reform. Yet, these cabinet posts will not ensure unconditional nor durable support to his government, especially in the face of more radical proposals.