After his re-election in a landslide, Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva faced the sobering challenge on Monday of forging a broad governing coalition and kick-starting stalled reforms.
Lula, as Brazil's first working-class president is known, said he would build a government based on the political forces that supported his re-election. He denied rumours that would dismiss Finance Minister Guido Mantega or Central Bank President Henrique Meirelles right away.
"I have until the first of January," Lula said in a series of television interviews. "Guido Mantega is my finance minister, Meirelles is central bank president ... until I decide to change that or not."
Lula won a strong mandate on Sunday with 60.8 percent of votes against rival Geraldo Alckmin of the centrist Brazilian Social Democracy Party, who took 39.2 percent. The victory marked a remarkable comeback from a series of corruption scandals involving Lula's left-leaning Workers' Party, which had threatened to end the political career of the former union leader.
Lula's large margin of victory should confer him some political capital, but some analysts cautioned he still faces an uphill battle to govern effectively. "Behind the headline victory, Lula faces a long and tough negotiation before he can begin governing," said Jose Luciano Dias, a political analyst in Brasilia.
Lula said he will convene a meeting next week with Brazil's state governors, who wield much influence over their parties in Congress. He can count on support from over half of the 27 governors compared to only three after his 2002 victory.
Lula started calling on governors earlier Monday to seek common ground on economic reforms and help secure the clear majority in Congress that has eluded him so far.
SBT Television reported that the president spoke with Minas Gerais state Governor and key opposition figure Aecio Neves, who has said the make-up of Lula's new cabinet would indicate whether he was serious about consensus politics. Lula gave no hints about whom he might name to his cabinet, but stressed the need for consensus. "I'm going to put together a government based on technical competence, political commitment and commitment to the program that got us elected," he said.
Lula's top political advisor, Tarso Genro, said the president would personally lead coalition talks. Genro will meet with congressional leaders on Tuesday to push a stalled tax reform bill. "I think it's possible to get the tax reform approved by year-end," he told journalists.
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