Rousseff government confident about defending itself, says Edinho Silva

Amid political tension around the recent decision of the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Eduardo Cunha, to accept a impeachment petition against President Dilma Rousseff, Edinho Silva, Minister of the Social Comnunication Secretariat of the Presidency, said Thursday (Dec. 3) that the government is confident that it is ready to defend itself should the deputies decide to press on with the impeachment case. Edinho Silva criticized opposition attempts to solve political issues through institutional disruption and said the government is ready to defend itself from attacks and threats.

“This is an assault not only on President Dilma's government, but on Brazilian democracy at large and the other country's perception of Brazil as a democratic country,” the minister denounced in an exclusive interview to Agência Brasil at Palácio do Planalto.

The minister said Rousseff will keep doing her job as usual while the deputies discuss whether there are enough grounds for them to open the impeachment case. He played down the threat of a government stall during the political crisis.

He said a “political war” on Brazilian streets would “not be a good thing” for the country, and while the government would not like to continue clashing head-on with Eduardo Cunha, it is definitely going to defend itself “whenever it feels it has been attacked”.

Accounting issues
Noting that Brazil “is one of the world's major most important democracies” and cannot solve its political issues “through institutional disruption at the cost of creating power-grab precedents,” Edinho Silva said that the case for impeachment is unjustified because “the arguments in the case have been dispelled by the government. They're all about accounting and budgetary execution practices that can easily be explained in the light of the existing legal framework, within the policies currently in force.”

As for the impeachment arguments about Rousseff's “fiscal back-pedaling”, the minister was adamant: “The government is confident because—well, to begin with, it can all be found in existing case law, and the Central Bank has policy on that too. So if we are to change the case law, the existing policy, ok, we might just as well do it.” Back in his days as a mayor, he said, “the Court of Audits would often advise the local government to change its budget execution practices ... and we now see state governors in a similar situation. We're experiencing an economic crisis that poses huge budget challenges to state governors. They [impeachment advocates] are putting a simple and easily explainable issue out of perspective, one that is very easy to solve in terms of the accounting perspective of budget execution, and trying to pass it off as a compliance issue when it's actually flat-out politics.”

About the new fiscal target approved by Congress Wednesday (Dec. 2), which revised the fiscal target down to a deficit, the minister pointed out that Brazil is not the only country to operate on a deficit budget, instancing “Canada, which after six consecutive years in a deficit, has successfully worked out a sounder budget execution.”

He said President Dilma Rousseff has advised the government to “pursue [the fiscal target] with austerity and keep the budget deficit to a minimum while making an effort to work toward a surplus as soon as possible. She chose a very challenging path, one of austerity and commitment to fiscal balance. She could have chosen another path, one of trying to reduce the deficit in a longer-term horizon.”

The president's defense

Edinho Silva denied any instructions from Rousseff to appeal the impeachment to the Supreme Court through the Attorney-General's Office. He pointed out “the court system is there to prevent things from outstepping legal boundaries and avoiding exaggerations. That's what courts are meant for—to ensure, in the light of the existing laws, the stability of institutions, and a constitutional and legal stability.”

According to the minister, “of course, if a political battle begins, the social sectors that support the government will most certainly rally [to the government's side]. I think that would not be good for Brazil. If people should rally, it's part and parcel of a democracy. But we should be discussing a relevant national agenda by now.”

The minister said the government is not gridlocked. “President Dilma is doing her job ruling the country. She will continue to travel around the country to launch programs and projects and attend unveiling ceremonies. We're not putting Brazil on hold, if only because I think Brazil's got to be stronger than circumstantial political conflicts and clashes.”

According to the minister, now it's critical to “show, first of all, that there are no grounds for impeachment.” Moreover, he said, political issues should be settled on the basis of debate and political elections, a process that takes place in Brazil every two years. “We can't solve our political differences through institutional disruption, it would be disastrous.”

Congress agenda
Edinho Silva said the government is not finished dealing with its political agenda. “We'll keep pressing it on.” According to him, seeking compromise is an ongoing effort. “There's no preset mood, we create the mood,” he said. “You'll struggle to succeed in politics if you're not into dialogue.” He acknowledged that “this is a moment of clashes” and the government “will defend itself, as much as it wants political peace.” About the relations with the opposition, the minister was positive: “As we all know, the government's doors are always open for dialogue and proposals, regardless of the partisan affiliations of our political leaders. Once we get any signs that we can all work together on a political agenda, the government will be willing to discuss it. Now, this is a two-way effort. The government has the political will, but that needs to be met with the opposition's willingness to work on an agenda that meets the interests of the Brazilian people.”

“This is the will of President Dilma, her life is the life of a woman who has devoted herself to help build a democracy. We're talking about an honest, earnest woman that has not a single blemish on her political career. Actually, she often has to struggle through sexism in this macho culture of our country's, where it's often unacceptable that a woman should be in power as the head of government.”

The vice-president's role
Minister Edinho Silva said Vice-President Michel Temer has shown “the utmost integrity towards President Dilma, as the righteous, honorable man he is—a very respectful political leader indeed.” He assured Temer and Rousseff “have been in ongoing dialogue.” On Thursday (Dec. 3), when the approval of the impeachment petition was announced, the minister pointed out, the vice-president “even called off a trip only to stay by the president's side, a gesture that can be understood as one of solidarity and loyalty. He called off his flight and came to the [presidential] palace to talk to President Dilma, a gesture that the president really appreciated.”

Edinho Silva noted that the vice-president “was the government's main political facilitator for a time.” And, he said, during that time “we had some very important wins in Congress under the political coordination of Vice-President Michel Temer. So he's someone who's always there when the government needs it.” The minister played down the fact that the vice-president has not formally offered comment on the latest impeachment move, noting “no comments have been made by either him or most of the cabinet, as this is something that should take place timely when he has the opportunity.”

Finally, the minister reiterated that the government recognizes that these are times of instability. “We're not overlooking this situation, these are times of instability that will be overcome by upholding democracy and the proper functioning of Brazil's institutions.”

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Translated by Mayra Borges