The president () reaches the middle of his third government still without a clear mark, unlike what happened in previous terms, with programs such as , the (Acceleration and Growth Program) and .
Allies and even ministers from the current administration admit behind the scenes that, of the public policies launched or resumed, there is still none that has become the face of the government.
Faced with this scenario, some turn a blind eye to possible concrete problems in the measures and resort to blaming communication.
The area has been internal in these first two years. Lula even indicates starting a ministerial reform with the change of the current minister of Secom (Communication Secretariat of the Presidency), .
Others mention a more structural difficulty for the government, citing in particular that the actions are spread across 38 ministries. In addition to the difficulty of identifying a true priority on the shelf of measures, resources are scarce and do not reach all proposals.
Lula’s aides admit that there is also a flaw in the actions and ideas proposed by the government.
for example, promised to make air travel more accessible to part of the population, but it did not come close to the initially projected performance. The target audience was so restricted — only INSS retirees who have not traveled in the last 12 months can purchase tickets for up to R$200 — that the measure ended up being left out of the list of the government’s main projects.
The promise to increase the Income Tax exemption to R$5,000 is also an example. It hasn’t come to fruition yet, and even so, . It was an attempt to mitigate possible negative effects on popularity, but it only caused turmoil in the industry.
Also on the shelf are proposals that were announced, but had difficulty in execution or didn’t even get off the ground, to lower the price of food. The initiative ended up being canceled in June after signs of irregularities and a strong reaction from national producers.
At the beginning of the year, the government also introduced the regulation of app drivers. The bill provides for the creation of a new professional category and provides more labor rights, such as minimum remuneration. But drivers complained about the measure, filed with Congress despite warnings from government members that there would be negative repercussions.
Planalto assistants say they are betting on a turnaround in the last two years of the administration. The president himself said, on TV Globo, last Sunday (15), that the next year will be one of “harvest”.
“We created the PAC, we launched all the programs that had to be launched. And I have said, we have already planted. Now, 2025 is the year of harvest. My honor is a commitment, things will happen.”
The most recent opinion polls point to a stable picture of government approval, but with a negative trend.
The most recent Datafolha survey, released on Tuesday (17), but the negative assessment is, numerically, the highest in this term
The Lula 3 government began in January 2023 with a focus on rebuilding public policies, which had been discontinued by its predecessors. This dynamic was expressed in the slogan “Brazil: union and reconstruction”.
High-profile programs were relaunched under previous PT governments (2003-2016), such as Bolsa Família and Minha Casa, Minha Vida.
The first big bet came with the launch of the New PAC (Growth Acceleration Program), in August 2023, at a pompous event at Rio’s Municipal Theater. The estimate is R$1.8 trillion in investments by 2030. Research Quaest released last week, however, pointed out that 48% of the population is not aware of the program.
Even within the government there is criticism that “everything is New PAC”. The Civil House, under the command of Rui Costa (PT), adopted the format of a large umbrella, in which the program ranges from investments by Petrobras to infrastructure works by ministries and social programs.
The original PAC, allies argue, was more focused, had impactful works and was more identified with each region. There are also complaints that, ultimately, parliamentarians and local politicians appropriate the works, without giving credit to the federal government. Furthermore, larger projects take time to open.
Other government initiatives also go unnoticed by the population, such as the Pense program (credit with different interest rates for small entrepreneurs) — unknown to 60%, according to Quaest.
Members of the first and second echelon, when asked what the “face” of the Lula 3 government could be, indicate how one of the bets (to encourage students to remain in high school) of the Ministry of Education, commanded by Camilo Santana (PT ).
As this is an income transfer through grants, the effect is more immediate. Furthermore, they say there is already an identification in society of education policies with the Lula governments, in general. In the Quaest survey, the measure is known and approved by 69% of respondents.
The program is frequently mentioned by the president in his speeches. Furthermore, as the Sheet showed, .
When contacted, the Civil House did not respond as to why there is no government mark after two years of management. Regarding the PAC, the department said that a special secretariat was created in September to centralize the program’s actions.
Secom did not respond to questions.
LULA GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS
Bolsa Família
Total transfer in 2024: R$168 billion
Number of families covered: 20.8 million
nest egg
Annual investment: R$8 billion
Beneficiaries: 3.9 million students
School Meals
Annual investment: R$5.5 billion
Beneficiaries: 40 million students
National Literacy Child Commitment
Annual investment: R$ R$ 1.2 billion
Organizers of the scholarship commitment: 2 thousand
Full-Time School
Annual investment: R$4 billion
New registrations created: 965 thousand (2023-2024)
My Home My Life
Annual investment: R$ 12.2 billion (from the general budget of the Union) and R$ 128 billion (FGTS resources)
Housing delivered: 41.7 thousand housing units delivered (urban and rural modalities) and 49 thousand units with work resumed
New PAC
Investment forecast of R$1.3 trillion by 2026
More Doctors
Investment in 2024: R$5.5 billion
Potential to serve 68.1 million people
Popular Pharmacy
Investment in 2024: R$3.3 billion
Beneficiaries: 24 million
