President Lula da Silva guaranteed today (21) that the relationship with the PMDB party is well. After an uneasiness that was caused by the declaration that the party would have to come up with a list of at least three names from the party to be possible vice-president candidates of the Pt party´s candidate, Dilma Rousseff. Lula said that the choice is up to Dilma, who will be next year´s presidential candidate.

“In the right moment, the PT and PMDB parties will sit to decide, I just hope that I am not present at the time. I am only President until December 31, 2010 after that I will be just an ex-president,” said Lula.

President Lula da Silva said today that in an eventual victory of Minister Dilma Rousseff in the 2010 presidential elections, nothing will change in the present economic policy.

“Dilma has a good plitical and economic sense, she does not waste money. It is impossible to change what is correct, we can only try to improve it,” the President evaluated. He went o and stated, “it is too early to evaluate the rejection ratings of the Minister.”

On the Central Bank´s (BC)  President, Henrique Meirelles leaving the government, President Lula said, “If it were up to me he would remain in charge of the BC until the last minute of my administration.”

The PSDB leader in the Senate, Arthur Virgílio (AM) discarded today (18) that the voting intention survey influences the decision of São Paulo´s governor, José Serra  (PSDB), of being a presidential candidate.

According to Virgílio, Serra´s campaign is irreversible. After the Governor of Minas Gerais, Aécio Neves (PSDB) gave up on disputing the primary election of the PSDB, members of the party informed that Serra will not officially launch his name before March 31^st.

The governor of Minas Gerais, Aécio Neves (PSDB), announced today (17) that he will not be a candidate for president in 2010. The confirmation was given in an interview in Belo Horizonte with the president of the PSDB, Senator Sérgio Guerra (PE).

According to Guerra, Aécio will be a candidate to the Senate. “Today the Governor told us that he will not be a presidential candidate. He will be a Senate candidate.

In November, the generation of formal job posts was greater than layoffs by 246,695. This was the best result for the month of November since the beginning of the series, according to the General Register of Employed and Unemployed (Caged). In the period, 1,413,066 workers were employed and 1,166,348 were fired.

In the previous month, the net balance was positive at 230,956. In November 2008, a month that was affected by the international financial crisis, there was a negative result of 40,821.

Analysts of the financial market are again forecasting a retraction of the GDP in 2009. The estimate went from a 0,21% growth to a 0,26% retraction. The information is contained in the Focus bulletin, a weekly publication of the Central Bank (BC), based on the projections of analysts in the financial market and in economic indicators.

The pessimistic estimate was presented after the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), released last Wednesday, that the  Brazilian economy grew 1,3% in the third quarter of the year in comparison to the previous quarter. Analysts and the Finance Minister, Guido Mantega were expecting a 2% growth in the third quarter.

President Lula da Silva said today that in 2010, the Brazilian economy will grow in a sustainable manner. He guaranteed growth in the sectors of: agriculture, industry, and commerce due to the facilities in financing and credit increase.

In the weekly morning program, Coffee with the President, Lula reminded that the government will expand the credit line  to machines, equipments, buses, and trucks. According to him, the other point is the decision to destine R$ 15 billion to the naval industry and the exoneration of the petrochemical sector to facilitate the construction of refineries.

The number of Brazilians older than 10 years of age that normally access the internet reached 56 million people last year. This number represents a 75.3% high in comparison to the 31.9 million people that accessed the internet in 2005. The data was released today by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) and is enclosed in the study, “Internet Access and Possession of mobile phone for personal use”.

The growth in internet access expanded the slice of normal users above the age of 10 to 34.8% of the Brazilian population. In 2005 20.9% of the population regularly used the internet.

José Serra (PSDB) continues to lead the in the polls. A good news for the Governor of São Paulo is that his voting intentions has returned to increase. He now has 38% of the voting intentions. Dilma Rousseff (PT) has also increased in the polls, she went from 15% to 17%. Ciro Gomes (PSB) fell from 17% to 13% and Marina Silva (PV) fell from 8% to 6%.

With this result, Serra wins the dispute in the first round. His adversaries together sum 36% of the votes. A number that is inferior to that of Serra.

Serra´s growth is due to the PSDB program that is being aired on television and radio networks. Aécio Neves (PSDB) that also participated in the program with Serra, did not grow in the same proportions. Serra and Aécio dispute who will be the party´s candidate.

When the PSDB candidate is Aécio Neves, Ciro appears leading the polls with 26% of the valid votes. He had 28% in this same scenario in September. Dilma has 20%, she had 18% before. Aécio rose from 13% to 14% and Marina Silva fell from 11% to 9%.

Among the main candidates, José Serra is the one that presents the smallest rejection, 29%. Dilma has the largest with 41%, followed by Marina with 40%. Aécio´s rejection is of 36% and Ciro´s is 33%.

In the present picture, José Serra continues to be the most probable candidate of the PSDB. Dilma has a few challenges: make a visible connection between her and the President, decrease her rejection level, and become more known. Between September and November, the percentage of people that affirmed that know her well and more or less remained the same, 32%.

The CNI/Ibope survey released this Monday (7) shows an improvement in the popularity of President Lula and his government, as anticipated by the survey conducted by CNT/Sensus (November16-20).

According to the survey that was realized between November 26- 30, the evaluation good/very good of the government increased from 69% in September to 72% in November. Lula´s evaluation rose from 81% to 83% in the same period. The confidence in the President went from 76% to 78%.

The improvement of Lula and his administration´s popularity is mainly due to the government´s success in the economic area. In the social area, the government maintains a positive evaluation; however, there was a considerable drop in the approval. The government´s approval in the fight against hunger and poverty fell from 68% to 60%. In public security the index fell from 42% to 38%, in welfare the disapproval rose from 54% to 57%, and in education the disapproval also increased from 39% to 43%.