Opinion

Bolsonaro is scrambling on shaky ground

From left to right: Supreme Court Chief Justice Luiz Fux, House Speaker Arthur Lira, President Jair Bolsonaro, and Senate President Rodrigo Pacheco. Photo: Marcelo Camargo/ABr

After carrying out the broadest cabinet reshuffle of his presidential term, Jair Bolsonaro is scrambling for his political survival and to preserve agency over his own administration. The result of Mr. Bolsonaro’s Hail Mary is that Brazil has new Defense, Justice, and Foreign Affairs Ministers, a new Solicitor General, Chief of Staff, and Secretary-General, and the country will have new Armed Forces commanders. This came in response to the government’s continuous losses in popularity, amid a worsening pandemic scenario and aggravated economic conditions.

Let’s dissect what led to Mr. Bolsonaro’s Manic Monday — and where this cabinet reshuffle will take us. First, the causes

1. The fictitious federal budget

Last week, Congress passed a 2021 federal budget proposal which represented a scandalous attempt by lawmakers to boost their own electoral stock. They slashed expenses on social security to inflate their own allowance for budgetary grants by 200 percent.

The justification behind this is a plan to compensate for pandemic-related economic woes by carrying out government-backed infrastructure projects. Regional Development Minister Rogério Marinho is a big advocate for this strategy, to the distaste of deficit hawk Economy Minister Paulo Guedes.

We can say Congress and the Bolsonaro administration see eye to eye on this matter.