Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva pledged to push for gender parity in federal management positions during a campaign rally in Belo Horizonte on Saturday.
Speaking at the Women with Lula event in the capital of Minas Gerais state, the president stated that women currently hold 38 per cent of management roles in the federal government. He described that figure as insufficient and declared that female representation must reach 50 per cent or higher.
Lula, who is seeking re-election for the Workers' Party, also addressed labor reform by calling for an end to Brazil's six-day workweek. He said legislation ending the six-days-on, one-day-off schedule would pass through Congress this week to give workers more personal time.
The proposed constitutional amendment to shorten working hours is currently under review by the Senate Constitution and Justice Committee. Lula defined democracy as citizens standing tall and demanding their rights, adding that the schedule change would benefit both men and women.
Representation in Congress
Addressing the broader political landscape, Lula called it a contradiction that women make up the majority of voters in Brazil yet remain a minority in public office.
He stated that if female voters backed female candidates, women would hold a majority of seats in Congress and the Senate. Asking why women must be represented by men, he compared the situation of women to that of working-class people, who form a global majority but lack proportional political power.
Domestic Labor and Family
During the event, Lula invited his wife, Rosângela Janja da Silva, to address the crowd and expressed gratitude for her political and ideological support. While praising her, the president briefly confused his current wife with his late former wife, Marisa Letícia da Silva, who died in 2017 at the age of 66.
Lula also focused on the unequal division of domestic labor, arguing that men must educate themselves to share household chores with their wives. He stated that domestic duties should not fall exclusively on women and urged supporters to use dialogue rather than confrontation to convince male partners to assist at home.
He added that sharing household duties creates a better environment for everyone, reducing fatigue and leaving partners with more time for themselves.
