beyondbrics

Four ministers down. How many more to go?

Brazilian agriculture minister Wagner Rossi resigned on Wednesday amid a messy corruption scandal – the fourth top official to leave the government in less than three months.

What started off as ‘spring-cleaning’ by Brazil’s new president, Dilma Rousseff, is now starting to resemble more of an industrial overhaul.

First to bite the dust was Antonio Palocci, chief of staff, who quit in June after allegations that he had got rich by giving inside government information to companies. Then came transport minister Alfredo Nascimento, who resigned in July because of reports that his top aides were charging companies a fee to win contracts.

Defence minister Nelson Jobim was pushed out this month simply for making disparaging remarks about his colleagues, such as saying that he was surrounded by ‘idiots’ -  something he later said was actually directed at journalists (like, that’s an excuse).

For Dilma’s critics, this mass exodus of ministers is a sign that the new president is losing control over her unwieldy multi-party governing coalition. Infighting is likely to get worse and crucial economic reforms, such as sorting out the country’s ridiculous tax system, are now in jeopardy.

However, for her supporters, Dilma is the ‘Iron Lady’. She is making the most of her high approval ratings (largely a legacy of the much-loved former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva) to clean out corruption and inefficiency in the government. They ask what is the point of worrying about economic reforms when ministers are accused of embezzling and bribing?

Here’s what Brazil’s Twitterati had to say on Thursday:

João Doria Jr: “Wagner Rossi is gone. The fifth is coming; it’s the inefficient minister of tourism Pedro Novais”.

Política Estadão: “Dilma has learnt that firing ministers doesn’t get in the way of being popular”.

Mução: “Good morning to anyone who is feeling worse than Brasília’s ministers!”

Cristiana Lôbo: “What an enthusiastic government! You turn your back and another minister is out. It seems like a banana tree – every hour, another bunch falls down. If this spring-cleaning continues though…”

Edson Bezerra: “Spring-cleaning is when you actually clean. But in this case, the dirt was just swept to the corner of the house and soon enough the wind will spread it out again.”

Related reading:
Brazil: Dilma’s enemy within, beyondbrics
Dilma’s popularity survives crisis, beyondbrics
Rousseff continues spring cleaning, beyondbrics
Rousseff’s fiscal plans under threat as top minister quits, beyondbrics
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