BRASILIA, Dec 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Brazilian president-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Thursday unveiled the final 16 appointments to his 37-member cabinet in the lead-up to his inauguration on Sunday.

All will be sworn in during the inauguration ceremony at Planalto Palace in Brasilia, the seat of the executive branch.

“I want you to be part of this country’s political history at a time when we had the courage to take charge of Brazil in an extremely delicate situation,” the president-elect said, voicing hope for the title of “the best government in the world” at the end of his four-year term.

The new cabinet includes 11 women ministers, the highest number ever in Brazilian history.

Some appointments are seen as accommodations for political parties that will make up his allied base in congress. Among Lula’s 37 ministers, there are members of nine political parties — some on the left who supported him during the campaign, but also centrist parties, who were not on the side of the president-elect in recent months, but who have shown support for him from 2023 onward. Eleven ministers do not have any party affiliation.

Former presidential candidate Simone Tebet, who ran against Lula in the first round of elections and supported him in the second round, was named Minister of Planning and Budget, participating in the economic team for the new government.

Marina Silva, a politician and environmentalist, was named Minister of the Environment, a position that could be eyed closely by an international community keen to see Brazil return to the table on climate change. Silva headed the ministry once before from 2003 to 2008. 

Sonia Guajajara, an indigenous woman and representative in congress, was named Brazil’s first Ministry of Indigenous Affairs. The announcement of the new ministry was met with cautious optimism by Brazil’s indigenous protectors. 

Lula also named ministers for transportation, tourism, social security, mines and energy, cities, fisheries, communications and agriculture and livestock.

He also revived the Ministry of Sport, which had become a secretary within the Ministry of Citizenship during the administration of President Jair Bolsonaro. For the ministership, the president-elect named former volleyball star and Olympic medalist Ana Moser. She will be the first woman to head the Ministry of Sport since its creation in the 1990s. Other famous Brazilians have held the role, including soccer legend Pelé. 

Lula’s incoming government broke a record by naming 11 female ministers to his cabinet. 

“I am happy because, never before in the history of Brazil, have we had so many women ministers,” said Lula, adding thar the country has also never “had an indigenous minister before.”

Lula also promised to nominate women for the presidency of the two largest public banks in Brazil, Caixa Econômica Federal and Banco do Brasil — the latter of which has never had a female leader. 

Despite the improvement in representation, Lula’s cabinet still falls short of gender parity, with men occupying 26 of the 37 ministerships. 

Ministers are set to take office on Jan 1, along with the president-elect and his Vice President Geraldo Alckmin. — NNN-AGENCIES