It is false that Lula’s team has 283 members with an average salary of R$17,000

False: It is a false tweet by Councilman Fernando Holiday (Republicans) claiming that the transition team of President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) would have 283 members with an average salary of R$ 17,000, supposedly higher than Jair Bolsonaro’s (PL) team in 2018. The message was deleted by the author, who posted a retraction acknowledging the error.

investigated content🇧🇷 tweet from São Paulo councilor Fernando Holiday (Republicans) claiming that President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) had 31 members in his transition team, while the president elected in 2022, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), has 283, and that the average salary of nominees is R$ 17 thousand.

where it was published: Twitter.

Conclusion of Comprova: It’s a false tweet by Councilman Fernando Holiday about the number of members of the transitional governments of Lula and Jair Bolsonaro and the average salary of the nominees. The current Chief Executive had 217 employees in 2018, not 31, as stated in the publication. About Lula’s team, Holiday claims to have 283, and the PT already has 300 people on the team. The post does not mention that, by law, only 50 members can receive salaries, distributed from the amount established by the Annual Budget. Currently, the transition from the Lula government has 14 paid positions, against the 23 paid positions that were created in the change to the Bolsonaro government.

Falsefor Comprova, is all content that was invented or that has been edited to change its original meaning and deliberately released to spread falsehood.

publication reach: Comprova investigates suspicious content with greater reach on social networks. The content, published on November 17, was deleted five days later. Comprova recorded that by Friday (18), the post had reached 15,200 retweets, 1,408 citations and 70,600 likes.

What the person responsible for the publication says: Via WhatsApp, Fernando Holiday’s advisor reported that the councilor recognized the mistake after having access to real data on the subject. The parliamentarian deleted the tweet with the false allegations and, later, posted a disclaimer message🇧🇷 In the new publication, he states that “most of Lula’s transition team is made up of volunteers, not paid ones, as he had posted before”.

How do we check: Google searched pages based on keywords on the topic: “Lula’s transitional government”, “Bolsonaro’s transitional government”, “transitional government salaries”, “how the transitional government works”, “transitional government budget” and “Fernando Holiday transitional government”. The search resulted in different journalistic articles with explanations and legislation involving the process of changing governments. In addition, we sought the PT’s press office to comment on the allegations made and also the advice of the councilor.

What is the transition of government

The transitional government was regulated by the Federal Law No. 10.609/2002signed by then President Fernando Henrique Cardoso (PSDB), with the aim of organizing the transition to the first Lula government.

In this way, the next administration has access to the operation of the public machine and allows an early diagnosis of reality.

The law allows the newly elected president to convene a team, with a remuneration limit that reaches up to 50 people, to have access to public administration information and state secrets. The functions occupied by the team are called Special Government Transition Cargos (CETG). The person in charge of the work is a coordinator, who receives the highest value for his work among seven levels established for remuneration.

How does the transitional government work?

The period between the conclusion of the elections and the inauguration of the president-elect has a team formed by the winner of the election destined for the transition, regulated by the Law 10.609/2022 and by Presidential Decree 7.221/2010🇧🇷 With the norms, the group has the right to access and request information on current management, such as activities carried out by government agencies and public accounts.

The nominees have their names presented by the Minister of the Civil House, a position currently occupied by Ciro Nogueira, in the Official Gazette. Of these positions, which are valid until January 10, 50 can be remunerated. The others act on a voluntary basis. The salaries of the so-called CETGs are distributed in seven categories and range from BRL 2,701.46 to BRL 17,327.65🇧🇷 That is, the amount announced as the average salary for these positions by councilor Fernando Holiday is, in fact, the maximum that a member of the transition group can receive. The amount for this distribution is determined in the Annual Budget and can be viewed on the Transparency Portal🇧🇷 In 2022, Lula’s transition group had access to BRL 3.21 million, and Bolsonaro’s, in 2018, to BRL 2.93 million (BRL 3.8 million, in values ​​adjusted for inflation in the period) . Inflation for the period from November 2018 to October 2022 (the last month for registration) is 25.55%, according to the Broad Consumer Price Index calculator (IPCA) of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).

squid transition

Despite having more than 300 people and having legal protection to remunerate 50 members of the transition group, the president-elect’s team had 14 paid positions until November 17, 2022, as reported by the portal UOL and confirmed the PT’s press office to Comprova. Only the elected vice-president, Geraldo Alckmin (PSB), responsible for the group, has the highest “level 7” remuneration, of R$ 17,327.65.

Next, former deputy Floriano Pesaro is at “level 6” and receives R$ 16,944.90. Another five people occupy “level 5”, which has a salary of R$ 13,623.39; and seven members of the group are in “level 4”, with remuneration of R$ 10,373.30. As a result, the average salary of members of Lula’s transitional government is BRL 12,500.18, and not BRL 17,000, as stated in the investigated tweet.

Bolsonaro’s transition

Contrary to what the councilor said, Jair Bolsonaro’s transition team did not only have 31 people, but 217. published at the time by the portal Poder 360 and confirmed by Comprova by checking the Official Gazette of December 13, 2018🇧🇷 Of these, 33 were officially named and at least 23 of them were paidaccording to information from the newspapers Folha de São Paulo and BBC Brasil until November 8, 2018. The team coordinator was the then federal deputy Onyx Lorenzoni.

Second report published by Reuters on November 21, 2022, pay amounts varied from BRL 2,585.13 to BRL 16,581.49, divided into seven categories. The level 7 transition coordinator was entitled to the highest salary, but as Onyx Lorenzoni was a federal deputy, he did not receive the resources🇧🇷

According to BBC Brazil, in article published on November 6, 2018, General Augusto Heleno, economist Paulo Guedes and lawyer Gustavo Bebbiano were the best paid on the team, with a salary of R$ 16,215.22 each, in values ​​at the time. Sergio Moro was also included in this category (level 6).

A survey carried out by to the facts based on publications in the Diário Oficial da União, it indicates that, in all, Bolsonaro’s transition team had 42 people in paid positions.

Who is Fernando Holiday?

The São Paulo councilor is affiliated with the Republicans and a supporter of Bolsonaro. He is also a history student and youtuber. He disputed the 2022 elections for the Federal Chamber, but remained as an alternate.

His first term was won after the 2016 election, when he obtained 48,055 votes. In 2020, he was re-elected with 67,671 votes.

why do we investigate: Comprova investigates suspicious content that goes viral on social media on topics such as the pandemic and public policies of the federal government and publications that question the outcome of the presidential elections. Posts like the one in the content investigated here, with false and misleading claims about the transitional government, raise unfounded doubts that end up disrupting the Brazilian democratic process. The legitimacy of transitional governments is important, among their objectives, as a way of attesting confidence in elections and democracy.

Other checks on the topic: Yahoo has verified that it is false that Lula’s transition team pays salaries to more than 200 members🇧🇷 To the Facts concluded that it is false that Lula’s transition team has 283 people who receive R$ 17,000 monthly🇧🇷 the National Confederation of Workers in Teaching Establishments (Contee) published that it is false that Lula’s transition pays salaries to more than 200 members🇧🇷 and the Diário do Estado reported that the Lula’s transition has more than 300 names; only 14 are paid🇧🇷

Investigated by: Norte de Notícias, Tribuna do Norte, Uol and Poder 360; Verified by: Estado de S.Paulo, A Gazeta, Crusoé, CBN Cuiabá and Plural