Address by the President of the Republic, Michel Temer, during the ceremony for the award of the “Order of Industrial Merit of São Paulo”, Grand Cross insignia, followed by the launch of the book “Corporate Law, Virtual Space Law and other Legal Challenges”, held in honour of Judge Newton de Lucca
São Paulo, 06 December 2018
Well, I want to... I'll do my best to make my speech as informal as possible. As you know, I have a written address here, but it's not what catches my eye. I always look, in fact, at the ceremonies I have attended, to look for a word that actually makes the synthesis, which encapsulates the ceremony itself.
And the feeling I had, seeing Judge Newton de Lucca then Paulo Skaf, and then Torquato Jardim here... The word that came to mind was “friendship.” Interestingly, I say the word “friendship” because I have been a friend of Newton de Lucca for a long, a very long time. We... I'll share some personal stories here. We were deprived of many a chance to talk while he was teaching at São Francisco and I was teaching at PUC [Pontifical Catholic University], but we went to Itu once or twice a week and we would talk during the whole trip. And a solid friendship emerged which made it possible for some time later, together with several other people – Ms. Samanta and many others – to produce a book in my honour. And, incidentally, the delivery [of that honour] occurred precisely here, at the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo.
So this long-lasting friendship consolidated itself over time and is becoming more and more solid, isn't it? So much so that I came here from Brasília, in fact, more... Of course, I came here to receive this extraordinary honour from Fiesp, and I am very grateful to Paulo Skaf and the whole management at Fiesp. But basically, because I also wanted to thank Newton de Lucca for the friendship he has dedicated to me over time, and for the friendship that has also remained to this day and – I am absolutely convinced – also in the future.
But I use the word “friendship” to refer also to Paulo Skaf. We have also developed, over time, a very fruitful relationship. A prolific relationship in public administration, prosperous in politics, and extremely welcome on a personal level. So every time I meet Paulo, I feel familiarly rewarded.
So I thank Paulo Skaf very much for his kindness, for the work he does for the country. Here at Fiesp and in other activities he has pursued, he has always devoted himself to public activity over time.
So I want, also in this particular matter, to say that I feel I was very opportune, Bragança, by seeing in this ceremony, by marking this ceremony with the word “friendship”.
On the other hand, I don't need to mention Torquato Jardim, because Torquato... Look, I've known Torquato for 35 years or more, haven't I? When he came to do his master's degree here at PUC in São Paulo, he was doing so well in the master’s programme, from the very first moment, that I actually said, “Look, you will end up giving me lectures”. He would bring judgements from the Federal Supreme Court and became a sort of partner to me in our Constitutional Law classes at the PUC master's degree programme. So, also there, a long-lasting friendship.
But it is even further revealed by the presence of so many friends that I see here. Look, let me tell you: I think I know everyone here today, don't I? Almost without exception, I believe. And they really are friends of mine. And that is why I say, once again, that the proper, correct, exact word for this ceremony – which I take the liberty here to define – is the word “friendship”. It is this friendship that allows us, over time, Carlos Cruz, Marcelo Barbieri… allows us, over time, Adilson Dallari… to actually carry out what we did in the government here of São Paulo, in the national legislature, in the three times we presided over the Chamber of Deputies, and likewise, now, in the Presidency of the Republic.
I would even, so to speak, like to give an account – albeit synthetic – of what we have done over the course of these two and a half years. But I will not do so, because Paulo Skaf gave a full account of what we have done. I would even like to invite Paulo to accompany me everywhere and deliver the first speech, because he provides a stupendous account, better than I could, doesn't he? Because, when he speaks, he does so with such emphasis, such enthusiasm, such excitement in his words, that I don't think I can match him. So Paulo is also invited to accompany me to provide, let us say, the report of our government.
And, thank God, we have had an administration, now coming to an end, that is beginning to be recognised. Because, it is interesting..., I make a distinction here... I'm using words that both speakers before me have used. The “muito obrigado” [“much obliged”] Newton de Lucca spoke of reveals etymologically, in the words, exactly what he said. When you say “much obliged”, you are expressing you are further obliged to follow a good path, to produce good results, and so on.
So, I say that, over the course of time, we have managed in our ensure ahead of the Presidency of the Republic, in two and a half years or a little more, to produce results that were beneficial to the country. I usually say, in fact, that we have brought Brazil to the 21st century. And I found it in the 20th century, and worn out. Worn out... I will even add a piece of data to what Paulo was saying. You very well know that – I am here at Fiesp, so I can say this safely – you very well know that, when I came into office in May 2016, GDP was negative at 5.9%. As soon as we assumed, in May, we arrived in December with GDP still negative, but now at [minus] 3.6, therefore improved. And sequentially, by 2017, when we reached the end of the year, we were at 1% positive. That is, in a year and a half Gross Domestic Product grew by 6.9%. And this is in addition to the numbers that Paulo mentioned.
So, people tend to forget numbers, don't they? But it is something, we must agree, to face double-digit inflation and bring it down to less than 4 percent; to face interest rates at 14.25 and bring them to 6.5%, because that has repercussions too – right, Paulo? – in public debt. Debt grows less, isn't is so...? It ends up increasing less than it should increase.
Interestingly, when we talk about the public spending ceiling...When we came into office, we saw how it was indispensable to establish a ceiling for spending, based on the most trivial, most frugal precept, that no one can spend more than they earn. If I, in my house, earn 5,000 and spend 10,000, four or five months later I will have a big problem. Now, in the Brazilian State, which is our home, if you spend more than you collect, you end up having problems down the line. Public debt increases more and more.
Well, in our first year we set a public deficit target of 179 billion reais, which was the reality of that moment. We were able to do everything that was done, including, if I may add to what Paulo has said, the recovery of State-Owned Enterprises.
You know that Petrobras, for example, four, five years ago was totally devalued and demoralised, nationally and internationally. But in the meantime, we have been able to recover it in such a way that today it has returned to being a matter of national and international pride, in addition to the valuation of its shares and so on.
The same happened with all public companies, because we approved a law in National Congress that establishes technical criteria for the filling of [management] positions in public companies. And this led to a large increase in the value of the shares of all public companies, an extraordinary profit.
One example is the Correios [Postal Service], which is something very salient. The Correios always faced losses, one after the other. This past semester, for the first time, it recorded a profit. And so it was with Banco do Brasil, Caixa Econômica Federal, Furnas, with all the State-Owned Enterprises.
So, I say… When I spoke of the 179 billion I wanted to say the following: there was a forecast that, at the end of the year, it would drop to 159 billion. We did everything we had to do and the deficit stood at 159 billion. Because it stood at 159 billion, we included in the next budget – this year's budget – a forecast for a 159 billion deficit. Today, I'm announcing here what I think is good news: yesterday, Guardia and Esteves told me that we will have a... We will not have a 159-billion deficit; we will stay at 125 billion, 126 billion, more or less. That means excellence in the performance of public administration, and of course our governing team's competence. It is not without reason, when I speak of our governing team, that at this time about 13 ministers have already been called to public office. In São Paulo alone there have been five, three or four in the federal government, and three or four more in the Federal District. All of them being called upon to be a part of newly elected administrations.
So I say, though I have left the subject of friendship... But I think it is the result of the friendship of all who are here and of so many others who have honoured us over time that I managed to get to the Presidency of the Republic and say: “Look, I don't want popularity”. In fact, I'll make an aside here... At one of the first meetings of the Economic and Social Council, one of the members (...) said the following. He said: “Look, President Temer, enjoy your unpopularity and do everything Brazil needs”. And I did. In fact, I ended up doing it without any concern for popularity, because popularity is different from populism. Populism is something you do today to be applauded today and be booed tomorrow. Popularity is something you do today, face objections, criticisms, but are applauded for tomorrow. My tomorrow is coming.
I confess to you that even yesterday, when I was honoured by the biofuel sector, I said: “overall, when you get to a month and a half, one month from the end of your term, your coffee gets cold”. And by “getting cold”, I mean one often disappears. So let me tell you something: my coffee is still hot. And it's still hot precisely because there's... recognition of what we're doing.
So I say… I made a terminological distinction of words between being known and recognised. “Known” is something we, over time, clearly become. But being recognised is what is important, because then you are known and exalted as you are known, exalted in addition to being know. And I think that, by now, our administration has been recognised.
And, in fact, I leave the administration at the end of this year, after doing... Please allow me to mention one more thing. You know that the transposition of the São Francisco River was stalled when we arrived in office. That's 475 kilometres of canals that carry water from the São Francisco to the entire Brazilian Northeast. We invested 2 billion reais in it and now we have inaugurated the east axis, which carries water to Paraíba and Pernambuco. And, before the end of the year, we will inaugurate the north axis, which brings water to Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte and a part of Pernambuco. Therefore, we are going to complete the transposition, a 15-year project that was paralysed and we have recovered it. I say this to indicate that, in addition to everything, what we did for the country as a whole, we did especially so for the Northeast.
And if I may give one more message... I apologise for tiring you a little, but also on the social area... because here I am talking about fiscal responsibility, but in the social area we have kept programmes like the Bolsa Familia [cash transfer programme] and Minha Casa Minha Vida [affordable housing programme]. Programmes of the past that became… that were successful, and so our obligation was to keep them. And while keeping them, we also evaluated the Bolsa Família, whose benefits hadn't been raised for more than two years... It is interesting; there is much talk of the past administration as if it were... of past administrations as if they were socially conscious, but who recovered the value of Bolsa Família was us, who recovered Minha Casa Minha Vida, whose projects were paralysed, was us. If you have anyone here from the construction area, they can testify this, it was us. We recovered this, we paid what was owed and recovered this formula.
So, if I may give you one last message, I would appreciate it in this House, which is a house of production – because the productive sectors of the country are industry, the business class, and workers, these are the productive classes of the country –... I want to convey a message of optimism, because it is amazing how we are pessimistic in Brazil. I travel abroad to various international meetings and I see an extraordinary enthusiasm, an extraordinary optimism with what we do in our country. People want to invest in Brazil, they admire Brazil. And here we see pessimism. And I say: we need to be optimistic, because this is a Brazil that still demands a lot, as Paulo said.
Pension reform, I tried to do it. There were obstacles of the most varied types, and it left the legislative agenda, but it did not leave the political agenda of the country. So much so that the subject most talked about now is the need, the imperative need of approving pension reform right at the beginning of the administration.
So I rejoice at the fact that I have put this subject on the agenda very quickly, with great enthusiasm. And it is with such enthusiasm that I say, again, that it is necessarily part of the country's political agenda.
That is why I say, our government, from beginning to end, was a reformist government. And because it was a reformist government, and we still have a lot to do, I say to all Brazilians, my Brazilian friends here: let's get optimistic about our country. Let's talk about the country positively, let's say “we're going to grow much more”, and let's go for it.
But at this moment, it is incumbent upon me to compliment once again the great jurist that is Newton de Lucca, and this great friend that is Paulo Skaf.