President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil has called for national unity in order to restore the country.
He made the statement on the eve of his 100th day in office on Sunday, while evaluating the important steps his government has done since taking office on January 1, according to the Xinhua news agency.
“We live in one country and we need everyone to come together to rebuild it,” Lula wrote in a column headlined “Brazil Is Back” in local newspaper “Correio Brazilians”.
“We inherited so many problems and on so many fronts that the term ‘reconstruction’ was incorporated into the federal government’s slogan, preceded by another key word: ‘unity’.
“We don’t have two Brazils, the Brazil of those who voted for me and the Brazil of those who voted for another candidate. We are one nation,” he said.
“In these first 100 days in government, we have worked tirelessly to restore dignity and quality of life to the Brazilian people, especially the 33 million victims of hunger,” Lula said, citing the revival of key social welfare programs, such as a cash transfer scheme and an affordable housing initiative, as the main achievements of his government in the 100 days.
The three-time President also emphasised the resumption of mass immunisation and “More Doctors,” an initiative aimed at improving healthcare access by employing up to 15,000 medical professionals to serve in rural or isolated places.
To get the economy moving again, Lula said his administration has created a realistic and responsible budgetary framework that preserves the balance of public accounts and ensures that the poor are included in the budget.
He stated that the government has resumed infrastructure investment by allocating 23 billion reals ($4.5 billion) for projects in 2023.
