BRASILIA (Reuters) -Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has invited centrist Senator Simone Tebet to be his planning minister, a close Lula aide said on Tuesday, and she is expected to accept.
Finding a place for Tebet in his cabinet has been one of the key challenges facing Lula in recent weeks as he builds his team ahead of a Jan. 1 inauguration, with nearly half of the incoming ministers yet to be announced.
Tebet backed Lula over far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro after ditching her own presidential bid when she failed to make the run-off. Her support was seen as crucial for leftist Lula’s election, helping him secure moderate votes in the second round.
Future Institutional Affairs Minister Alexandre Padilha said in a press conference Tebet had not yet formally accepted, but noted her party, the Brazilian Democratic Movement, had given a “positive signal.”
The planning minister job was first offered to economist Andre Lara Resende, a member of Lula’s transition team, but he declined.
On Monday, incoming Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said there would be no problems working with Tebet, whom he called “very qualified” and “someone who knows how to work in a team.”
(Reporting by Lisandra ParaguassuEditing by Peter Graff)
