Lula tells Rousseff to put her own stamp on Brazil's gov't

Brasilia, Agency
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday received President-elect Dilma Rousseff and asked her to put "your own stamp" on the next administration, confirming that he will keep himself at the margin of that process because "The king is dead. Long live the king!"

The meeting with Lula was Rousseff's first visit to the presidential palace since winning Sunday's runoff election with 56 percent of the vote.

Rousseff, Lula's former chief of staff, will be sworn in on Jan. 1 as Brazil's first woman president.

After a private meeting, the president and president-elect held a press conference at which Lula spoke first, later leaving his successor-to-be alone with the reporters.

Lula, Rousseff's political mentor and the main backer of her campaign, said he will give everyone "a lesson on how an ex-president should behave," thus acting to quash conjecture about his possible influence on the administration of Brazil's next leader.

"Dilma's government has to have Dilma's stamp," Lula said, denying that he would be participating in discussions regarding the composition of the next Cabinet.

"An ex-president does not designate, he does not veto. He can only give advice, but if and only if they ask him," said Lula, who added that starting in January he will be "in the stands, cheering for Dilma's success and always applauding, never booing."

He also ruled out the notion that he might run again for the presidency in the 2014 election, since - he said - "The king is dead. Long live the king!"

"All the conditions are there for Dilma to have four years of success" and - in the 2014 election - for her with "all legitimacy" to aspire to a second term, the outgoing president said.

He also sent a message to the opposition and asked that its members maintain a constructive role and "know how to differentiate the political fight from the interest of the people."

Lula also said that Rousseff, an economist, will receive a country that he compared to "an automobile under way, with the motor tuned, at 120 kilometers (74 miles) per hour."

In the economic area, Lula said that in the two months that remain of his term he will do "what may be necessary to guarantee that Dilma takes over the government with calm and without worries."

Lula also confirmed that he will attend the G-20 Summit that will be held next week in Seoul, accompanied by Rousseff, and that what his government sees as currency manipulation by the United States and China will be, for Brazil, the main matter for discussion.

"I will attend the G-20 to fight. If up to now they have been fighting with Lula, now they will have to do so with Lula and Dilma," the head of state said, adding that Washington and Beijing are promoting "a currency war."

The U.S. government, according to Lula, "wants to solve its problem" by pushing down the dollar, while China "has its currency very undervalued."

Rousseff confirmed that, starting on Wednesday, she will rest for "a few days" to recover from her four months of campaigning prior to the election and that next Monday she will travel to Seoul for the conference.