?Peace and love' Bolsonaro is here to stay, minister says
The government is reaching the 600-day milestone after several clashes with other branches of government decided to maintain a better dialogue with the other institutions. "We see that the result for society is better," Secretariat of Government Minister Jorge Oliveira told Valor.
He says without these institutional turbulences the government stopped spending energy and the country managed to move forward. It was a period of adaptation for President Jair Bolsonaro, the minister says, even citing how Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva changed when he arrived at the Planalto Palace.
Mr. Oliveira was Deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro's chief of staff and his father worked for several years in the Chamber of Deputies with the president, who calls him "major," a reference to the post he achieved in the Federal District Police. One of President Bolsonaro's closest aides, he is also Deputy Head of Legal Affairs, a strategic position in the federal government, through which every document bearing the president's signature must pass.
Mr. Oliveira intends to leave a project as a legacy in this field: the simplification and facilitation of access to legislation. He says since he took office almost 3,000 decrees have been revoked. Read the main excerpts from the interview below.
Valor: Is this "peace and love" phase of President Bolsonaro here to stay or is it temporary as perhaps it's not in his political DNA?
Jorge Oliveira: Actually - and this is an assessment of mine - all the branches of government and all of society, as well as the president, went through this adaptation. The relationship of citizens with public power has changed a lot as a reflection of what social media make possible. Communication is much more agile and the volume of information is much greater. We are all adapting to some extent. We started to have clashes and that came in very high intensity. To some extent, clashes are positive - they build more and are better for the realization of ideas. However, we got to a point where these clashes were causing erosion, there was a loss of energy, the country was not moving forward. The government was facing several crises, some natural and some not, so there was an understanding that was not only from the Executive branch. The Parliament, the Judiciary, the TCU [Federal Court of Accounts] improved communication with us as well. Disagreement is natural, but institutions must be strong and these forces must be equal. The Constitution is clear regarding each one's role. In that sense, there were some specific episodes where it was necessary to have a better conversation and to leave aside our minor differences in order to think about more important agendas at a time of pandemic.
Valor: But those close to the president feel that this less noisy style is here to stay?
Mr. Oliveira: Yes, it is, it's not a fad or something that will end. We see that the result for society is better. To make a good government is an obligation. The increase in popularity is a consequence.
Valor: From what you're saying, there was a learning process in those first 18 or 19 months?
Mr. Oliveira: Although he has a combative profile and defends his points of view very vehemently, the president has always been a person of dialogue and consensus on a daily basis. He gives his team freedom to work, he listens a lot, he backtracks when convinced of some situation. What exists is a process of adaptation - natural for everyone, including for someone who served 28 years as a federal deputy. A lawmaker has greater freedom of expression, which the head of the executive branch does not have or should not have.
The president, when he is elected, does...
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