August 25, 2022

15:08

Internally, both in government circles and in the Petrobras trenches, there are high expectations that the best placed candidates in the electoral polls, President Jair Bolsonaro and first ranked Lula, will participate in the first round of the main TV debates. President Jair Bolsonaro confided to allies that he was very excited after considering that he did well in the Jornal Nacional interview. The president’s closest aides are convinced that he is ready to go to the debates, but only if Lula is present.

Lula on Band

Lula’s advisors, on the other hand, informed that he will go to the Band debate next 28th, even if Bolsonaro doesn’t go. The ex-president doesn’t want to be seen as a ‘loser who gave up’. Some of the PT supporters remember that when he didn’t go to the last debate of the first round, in the 2006 election, he had more losses than gains. Bolsonaro said, to Band’s management, that he is willing to attend, as long as Lula is present. The decision about each debate will be made by the drop of a hat. Until then, speculation will sprout from one side to the other.

JN Preparation

Lula spent this week recording for the electoral schedule on TV. The preparation for the Jornal Nacional interview will only take place this Thursday 25th. Sources say this is standard preparation, when the candidate’s team simulates an interview, studies the most important issues, provides the ex-president with information and numbers, aligns speeches, refines and rehearses answers. The expectation is that Lula will be asked about the corruption scandals of the PT, yes, but that he will also have space to talk about government proposals and other campaign themes.

Correction of the income tax table

Promised by then-candidate Jair Bolsonaro in 2018, the correction of the income tax table has not been fulfilled, but it is one of the few topics pacified by the advisors working on the formulation of the Lula-Alckmin government program. The measure is important to alleviate the burden of those earning lower salaries, hurt by the withholding tax. The text mentions that the very rich will pay more Income Tax and the resources collected will be reverted to programs with high capacity to induce growth, promote equality and generate productivity gains.

Aras condescending to the coup

The majority bet among the prosecutors of the Attorney General’s Office is that the chief prosecutor, Augusto Aras, should not see criminal conduct in the exchange of messages between Bolsonarist businessmen who evaluated the possibility of institutional rupture in WhatsApp conversations. The position of the prosecutor, this time, will not be contrary to the sentiment of his category. At the top of the MPF there are few who saw any kind of illegality in the conversations that have been disclosed so far.