President Dilma Faces Complex Reshuffle

Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff is facing what is turning out to be a complicated government and cabinet reshuffle this month. In fact, it now looks increasingly likely that it won’t be completed until well into February. Leading as she does a comparatively complex coalition administration, her intention to replace up to eight Ministers is proving complicated. This is because of the potential for competitive squabbling between the various parties.


Not just the general population but those who are looking to (or continuing to) invest in Brazil will be watching developments with great interest.

To an extent, many of the departing Officials will provide few surprises, comprising (as most of them do) just temporary appointees.

They only expected to be in post a few months. They were put in place to take over from the half a dozen disgraced ministers embroiled in scandal in Dilma’s first year in Office.

Actually, one particular minister is keen to depart as soon as possible as he has other plans in prospect. The current Minister of Education, Fernando Haddad, is aiming to run for his Party ( Dilma’s PT) for Mayor of Sao Paulo, Brazil’s largest metropolitan area. It’s also the largest one in the whole Southern Hemisphere so would provide Haddad with a major power base for whatever long-term plans he may have after that.

The various knock-on effects for the other changes remain to be finalised although the Education ministry (the most prominent one incontention) will almost certainly be kept by the PT.

One question mark hangs over the number and extent of the Government ministries themselves. Altogether there are thirty-eight portfolios and it's widely believed in some quarters that Dilma will merge or combine more than a few of the smaller ones.