Source: Folha de S. Paulo, 16/11/2008

Once the agitation of the municipal elections is past and the end of the year is approaching, the political world returns to its usual state of stagnation and mediocrity.

While Congress improves a tricky way out of the question of party fidelity, considering instituting an official month for the exchange of subtitles, in recent statements by President Lula, the short-lived theme of Dilma Rousseff's candidacy for presidential succession is back on the agenda.

Not even the economic crisis is capable of imposing more ambitious reform agendas on the government and the opposition. It all comes down, for now, to the punctual management of emergencies, a field that is always inviting for the exchange of favors and the negotiation of physiological interests.

This was seen in the processing of provisional measure 443, the main objective of which - the authorization for federal state banks to buy stakes in public and private companies - was surrounded, in the Chamber of Deputies, by strange and diverse additions, such as the granting of credit for contractors and increased tax incentives for the computer sector.

All very normal, if we think about what has been the Brazilian political activity in recent years, in which the deterioration of parliamentary customs has lived with relative calm in the economic scenario.

Nothing indicates, however, that more celebrations around the pre-salt discoveries or the dubious feats of the PAC are enough to occupy the Executive's agenda throughout 2009, while Congress, amidst the usual scandals and routine bargains, it deprives itself of any initiative.

A concrete agenda of changes is waiting for the articulated commitment of political agents to be put into discussion. Three basic reforms, that of Social Security, that of the tax system and that of the political system, drag on chronically through the offices of Brasília.

Since 2009 is not an electoral year, and given the challenges that the conjuncture imposes on the country, the expectation that the inertia that has characterized the Federal Executive and Congress in these matters is finally heightened.

The interruption of the tax escalation, and a programmed reduction of the tax burden in the medium term, are now essential to instill more confidence in economic agents. More than ever, rationality in public spending and its effective control by society are decisive in putting Brazil in a favorable position in the group of emerging economies.

Political reform, the reduction of tax charges and the settlement of Social Security accounts were being delayed not only by their inherent complexity but also by the climate of accommodation and triumphalism that characterizes the current government.

It is certainly not a matter of forcing the pessimistic note these days. Nothing worse, in a crisis, than panic and improvisation. For this reason, what is needed is to act, in depth, right now.