(Brasilia) Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro carried out a major ministerial reshuffle on Thursday, which affects nearly half of his government’s portfolios, many of his ministers having to free themselves to stand in the general elections in October.
Posted at 3:12 p.m.
This reshuffle, which involves the departure of 10 ministers out of 23, is due to the electoral law obliging any minister intending to be a candidate for a mandate of deputy, senator or governor to leave office by Saturday.
“They leave with their heads held high. They will seek electoral mandates and must campaign in their states,” President Bolsonaro said at an official ceremony in Brasilia.
Among the incumbents is Defense Minister General Walter Braga Netto, tipped to be Bolsonaro’s running mate for vice president in the October ballot where the far-right president hopes to be re-elected.
General Braga Netto, one of Jair Bolsonaro’s trusted men, has been appointed adviser to the presidency.
Several other key ministers left their posts, including Tereza Cristina (Agriculture) and Tarcisio de Freitas (Infrastructure).
Tereza Cristina, highly respected in the middle of agribusiness, the engine of the Brazilian economy, would for her part aim for a seat as a senator in the state of Mato Grosso du Sud.
Tarcisio de Freitas was also one of the strong men of the government: after successfully leading the privatization of ports, airports and railways, he should be a candidate for the post of governor of Sao Paulo, the most wealthy and the most populous in the country.
On October 2, the day of the first round of the presidential election, Brazilians will also elect their deputies, governors and a third of the senators.
General Paulo Sergio Nogueira, commander of the Army, will succeed Braga Netto as head of the Ministry of Defence.
The other outgoing ministers have been replaced by senior civil servants with a more discreet profile.
During the ceremony in Brasilia, President Bolsonaro again praised the military dictatorship (1964-1985), on the occasion this Thursday of the 58and anniversary of the coup that established the Years of Lead in Brazil.
“Everyone had the right to come and go, to study, to work,” the far-right president said, ignoring the severe deprivation of individual freedoms under military rule.
Without the 1964 coup, “we would be a shoddy Republic,” he insisted.
Mr Bolsonaro remains trailed in the polls by leftist ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, although he has narrowed the gap recently.