President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva cited, during a ministerial meeting this Wednesday, governors Tarcísio de Freitas (São Paulo), Ratinho Junior (Paraná), Romeu Zema (Minas Gerais) and Ronaldo Caiado (Goiás) as possible adversaries in the race for the presidency in 2026 and declared that he had determined that studies be carried out on the social programs they carried out during of their administrations.
— I have already ordered a study of the social policies of our possible adversaries. From Tarcísio, Zema, Caiado, Ratinho… The social policies they implemented in the States. Honestly, around us, they did nothing — said Lula.
Earlier, at the opening of the ministerial meeting, he delivered a message to the Centrão and said that the parties must decide on which side they will place themselves in the 2026 elections.
On the Esplanada, there are 39 ministers appointed by ten parties (including the PT). Among the acronyms occupying high-level government positions are Centrão parties that have not yet decided whether they will support Lula, such as Gilberto Kassab’s PSD; the Republicans to whom Governor Tarcísio de Freitas, of São Paulo, is affiliated; and the BMD. Antônio Rueda’s União Brasil left the government, but maintained its influence, through the President of the Senate, Davi Alcolumbre, in two portfolios: Telecommunications and National Integration.
— Next year is the year where we will have the opportunity, not only because we will be in conflict, but because each minister, each party in which you participate, will have to be in the electoral process and will have to decide on their side. It will be inexorable for citizens to have to define the speech they are going to make. They will have to defend what they believe can elect them. And I think we have extraordinary strength, Lula told ministers.
The president then defended the investments made by public banks and said that “several decades ago, they did not have the investment capacity that they have today.”
Lula once again declared that 2026 was “the year of truth” and that he would compare his government’s indicators with those of his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro.
— It is important that we are aware that we must make sure that people know what happened in this country (under the Bolsonaro government). I have the impression that people still don’t know, that we don’t yet have the right story for people to know how to evaluate what happened in this country – Lula underlined.
The president highlighted in his speech what he considers the characteristics of his government, such as reducing unemployment and expanding the income tax exemption, but acknowledged that the good numbers are not yet reflected in opinion polls. For Lula, this is due to political polarization.
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