"It is necessary to continue transforming the country"

In October, Brazil will hold new presidential elections. Three main candidates will be contending for the presidency: Dilma Rousseff, for the Worker’s Party, Aecio Neves, for the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB) and Marina Silva - replacing deceased Eduardo Campos - for the Brazilian Socialist Party (PS). In an interview via email, President of the Worker’s Party (PT), Rui Falcao, emphasized the social achievements realized during three presidential terms of Lula and Dilma. In addition, he commented on the challenges the PT would face during a possible fourth presidential term. What are the realistic expectations for the October presidential elections within PT? We are working on the premise of victory, because we represent the political project which has enabled 40 million people to ascend socially, making Brazil the seventh largest economy in the world, and which has made, during Dilma’s government, concrete steps toward tackling the country’s historic challenges, such as the lack of doctors in poor communities. In this year’s elections, this successful project will challenge those promoting a reduction in salaries and the privatization of public services. Brazilians know that Brazil, after Lula and Dilma, is better than the Brazil of the PSDB. Dilma’s campaign slogan, presented by the PT during the party’s national convention was "More change, More future." What are the proposals? We are confident that we have done more than any other government, and therefore we have the credentials to continue governing. On a minimum wage in Brazil you can now buy more than you could under other governments. If you knock on the door of any family home, you will see that there are fewer unemployed people than under past governments. Why? Because unemployment in Brazil has reached its lowest rate of all time under the PT government. In addition, with programs such as ProUni o Fies, the son of a domestic worker can go to university. These are structural transformations which we have realized in Brazilian society. Likewise, we are also the first to acknowledge that it is necessary to continue transforming and changing the country. And we haven’t made all the necessary changes, because 12 years is a very short time. Therefore, in order to strengthen the changes that Brazil still needs, our coalition’s government program proposes four reforms: political, federal, urban and public service. From an economic perspective, we are going to take Brazil to a new period of growth through greater competitiveness in our production sector. What role will former President, Lula da Silva play, both in the campaign and in a new governmental term? Lula’s presence in the campaign is total: he continues to be one of the most important figures of the PT, and will be so in this election. He is scheduled to visit areas of great electoral density, but also to those where we can increase our advantage, such as in Northeast. Furthermore, Lula will participate in recording spots for the free electoral campaign schedule. What is opposition to the government like? What do you think are the main differences between the PT campaign and what Aecio Neves, main opposition candidate, will be proposing? The opposition’s campaign is based on pessimism, in defending of the interests of those who resent the social transformations which have taken place in Brazil. They rely on a discourse that doesn’t speak to the country’s current reality. Our population never had access to so many rights, to so many goods and had never been able to aspire to so many achievements that before seemed unattainable. To have an idea of what this means, we can proudly say that, for the first time in history, we will have more literate than illiterate voters. This is a fact which illustrates the new Brazil we are building. We are at all levels close to full employment, achieved due to the creation of more than five million jobs in Brazil by Dilma´s government; while the world economy eliminated more than 60 million jobs. We have the electoral period to show Brazilians what we have done to improve everyone’s life, and what we will do to take these achievements to the next level. What happened with the recent statement from Banco Santander, which announced to its clients that, if Dilma won, the economy would decline? What is your opinion on the issue as President of the PT? This episode has already been resolved. It was the bank’s director who was discredited and decided to resign. We only condemn the distortion of the report, which didn’t portray the actual situation. It stated that if Dilma won the elections, things would get worse. It is not a technical evaluation; it is a political judgment, based on a reactionary ideology and the ignorance of sectors unaware of our project or rather, resentful of the social transformations the PT government has achieved. (Rebelión)