The president() called on assistants during a ministerial meeting this Monday (20), which featured a presentation by the new minister of Secom (Secretariat for Social Communication of the Presidency), on a government communication proposal.
The president stated during the meeting that the 2026 electoral campaign has already started and that he and his team need to work to elect a new government and so, in reference to his predecessor’s management, ().
According to participants at the meeting, the president stated that he still does not know whether he will be a candidate in the next presidential election and cited the need to “elect a successor”.
The meeting was also used to demand that its ministers avoid measures that bring strain on the federal government — without mentioning the controversy — and work to increase deliveries. He would have said that 2025 is the “year of truth”.
In his first appearance at a ministerial meeting, he defended that the president should be more at the forefront of the management’s communication policy. In this aspect, Lula reportedly complained about the excess of events at the Palácio do Planalto and said he wanted to participate more in ceremonies with the people.
Lula held the first ministerial meeting of 2025, at the official residence of Granja do Torto. The meeting, which lasted more than seven hours, takes place amid the government’s exhaustion with the Pix crisis and the expectation of a new ministerial reform.
In his opening speech, broadcast live, the president cited the 2026 electoral scenario, placing responsibility for having brought forward the process to the opposition.
“Two thousand and twenty-six has already started. If not for us, because we have to work, weed, we have to remove all the burrs, but for our opponents, next year’s election has already started. Just see what you watch on the internet to see that they are already campaigning. The anticipation of the campaign for us is to work, work, work and deliver what the people need”, he said.
He also stated: “The delivery we made to the people has not yet been what we committed to in 2022, because many of the things we planted have not yet sprouted. (…) Not everything that has been announced has already borne fruit, we need to know that 2025 is the year of the great harvest of everything we promised the Brazilian people. And we cannot fail.
When the meeting was no longer broadcast, the president would have spoken about the presidential elections and then repeated at times the possibility of electing a successor. He would have admitted that he may not be a candidate, for reasons beyond his control, remembering incidents suffered last year, such as a breakdown on the presidential plane and a fall in the bathroom.
When stating that only God knows if he will be a candidate, Lula addressed the minister (Environment). “Isn’t it, Marina?”, he asked. This joke refers to 2008, when the minister reportedly told the president that she consulted God before leaving the ministry.
There were also doubts among those present as to whether Lula was drawing a parallel with himself when citing the case of the now former American president, who took a long time to give up his re-election in 2024.
According to reports, the president would have said that the result of the American elections could have been different if Biden had withdrawn before running, in time to launch a name other than vice-president, Kamala Harris, to succeed him.
Lula also demanded more deliveries from his ministers and then asked for a centralization of government measures and acts in the Planalto Palace, to avoid noise.
The president did not mention specific cases, but it was clear to those present that he was referring to the episode of the normative instruction that expanded supervision over transactions by individuals via Pix that totaled at least R$5,000 per month. last week.
“From now on, no minister will be able to make an ordinance that then creates confusion for us without it passing through the Presidency through the . Many times we think it’s nothing, we make some ordinance and then it blows up and ends up in the Presidency of the Republic” , he stated.
According to interlocutors, the president also harshly criticized Paulo Teixeira (Agrarian Development) and Carlos Fávaro (Agriculture) for not presenting a plan to lower the price of food.
Lula also stated that he intends to participate in events closer to the population, to the detriment of closed ceremonies at the Palácio do Planalto. He would have said he wanted “more people” and “more streets”.
The position takes place at the time of change at Secom, with the departure and arrival of Sidônio, who took office last week. The new minister’s speech was intended to present a new government communication proposal. He pointed out that there is a flaw in the set of policies, management and communication, which would be running in different rotations.
Sidônio said he intends to bring the president’s figure even more to the fore, with more interviews and public appearances. The new minister also asked other members of the government to avoid off-the-record statements, journalistic jargon that means that they will not be identified in the report.
The new minister also talked about creating a monitoring and rapid crisis response center at Palácio do Planalto, without mentioning the Pix crisis.
Interlocutors pointed out that Lula did not specifically address the ministerial reform, which is expected in the coming weeks.
According to reports from two participants, the president once again mentioned the parties that make up his government and said that he knows how each one has voted on matters in Congress. He also stated that he wants to meet with party leaders and ministers from the parties that make up the Esplanada in a kind of “alignment”.
