The vice-president and minister of Industry and Commerce, Geraldo Alckmin, said that the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, is a “great candidate for everything”. Alckmin referred to the possibility of Haddad running for governor of the state of São Paulo, in an agreement that had already been made with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Next week, Lula and Haddad should meet to advance the matter.
— Minister Haddad is a great candidate for everything. He has public spirit, experience, work capacity — said Alckmin, who said he had not been invited to the meeting between Lula and Haddad.
Alckmin cited positive economic figures, attributed to Haddad’s work in the Finance department.
— We are living in an important moment from an economic point of view. Inflation below the target ceiling. Record harvest, food inflation falling. The dollar, which was at R$6.30, dropped to R$5.12. There is an expectation of a reduction in interest rates. The stock market is breaking a record and so are investments in Brazil — he said.
According to GLOBO columnist Lauro Jardim, Haddad had already been convinced by Lula to run for the São Paulo government. The president’s expectation is that Alckmin can campaign for Haddad, in the interior of São Paulo, especially among agribusiness sectors, where the name of governor Tarcísio de Freitas has greater support.
Asked if he would remain Lula’s vice-president in this year’s presidential race, Alckmin did not respond.
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The vice-president was in São Paulo this Friday afternoon, alongside the president of BNDES, Aloizio Mercadante, announcing another R$70 billion in resources for the Nova Indústria Brasil (NIB) program. Since the country’s reindustrialization program was launched, BNDES has already disbursed R$300 billion.
In the financial market, managers see minister Fernando Haddad’s candidacy for the government of São Paulo, with little chance of victory over governor Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans). For these managers, although Haddad is the PT’s main name in São Paulo, the governor continues to have a certain level of favoritism, as he has the “state machine” in his hands.
— I think there’s a very strong Tarcísio, with the machine in hand. The expectation of many people was that Haddad could come to the Senate, because he is the PT’s main name in São Paulo to be able to face the governor. But, I think Tarcísio continues to have a certain level of favoritism — says Daniel Teles, expert and partner at Valor Investimentos, who sees this scenario having little impact on the presidential race.
For Paulo Bittencourt, chief strategist at MZM Wealth, the interior of the state, especially agribusiness, supports Tarcísio’s continuation in the São Paulo government. For the strategist, even if vice-president Geraldo Alckmin helps campaign in the interior, he no longer has the PSDB paving the way as it was in the past.
— Alckmin has nothing to offer the interior that would make voters risk switching to the PT. Another bad point for Haddad is that while Tarcísio has a series of works to show, Haddad will have to explain the increase in taxes and the fiscal results that have only gotten worse — says the strategist.
