Still in the lead of the presidential race, which has become fiercer and more complex, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) insists on the arrogance of supporting his electoral bid only on the vast popular rejection of his opponent and incumbent, Jair Bolsonaro (PL).
The ex-president seems to expect that his return to the Planalto takes place by sheer force of gravity, or by the recognition of past achievements. Or, yet, because voters would have nothing more to lose and would be inclined to endorse any alternative to the current picture.
The results of the first round should have been enough for Lula to get off that pedestal. Millions of votes showed that those willing to reappoint Bolsonaro and allies – or to avoid a new PT mandate – are far from being limited to the minority that shares authoritarian theses and conspiratorial delusions.
Despite difficulties, the economic scenario, decisive in any election, does not correspond to a devasted ground scenario. The increase in optimism about the immediate future, which must be kept in mind, had already been detected by Datafolha before the polls opened.
The inflation that afflicts the poor and the middle class has begun to be contained. Employment is advancing strongly this year. Workers who have obtained jobs and entrepreneurs who have filled positions want to know what awaits them.
It is an insult, therefore, that Lula maintains a lack of transparency regarding his plans and names for the management of the economy – in addition to a strategic error that may have already cost him the victory in the first round. After all, the situationist agenda is, by definition, more predictable.
It is essential to explain how to maintain the recovery of activity and seek budgetary balance, which are requirements for sustaining social policies.
In the search for votes from the center and from the right, in addition to the support of the formulators of the Real Plan and other renowned economists, Lula needs to break with old statist doctrines that, along with corruption, have tarnished the legacy of PT administrations.
Promises of more public spending and interventionism can certainly please party ideologues and activists, but they scare away strata that have their eyes on economic freedom, entrepreneurship, and tax containment. It is past time to recognize that the liberal agenda of recent years has brought lasting advances.
In his first successful presidential campaign, two decades ago, the PT was right to make, in a public letter, a commitment to fiscal responsibility and respect for contracts.
The relative financial calm now does not exempt Lula from presenting his plans and naming the people who will be responsible for carrying them forward. On the contrary, it is the opposition candidate who is required to say what he intends to change or preserve in the economy.
Translated by Cassy Dias