DILMA Rousseff took over as Brazil’s first female president on Saturday with pledges to ‘govern for all’ and build on the policies of her hugely popular predecessor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
The 63-year-old divorced grandmother, who was Mr Lula’s former cabinet chief, assumed the presidency in a carefully staged ceremony under at times rainy skies.
A 1952 Rolls-Royce convertible took her along streets lined with an estimated 70,000 well-wishers. As the rain lifted, the car’s roof came down and she stood up in the back, dressed in white and waving to people brandishing flags and umbrellas.
She then embraced Lula at the presidential palace, receiving from him the green-and-gold official sash before giving her first speech to the nation. ‘I will look after the most vulnerable. I will govern for all Brazilians,’ she said in the televised address from the palace’s balcony after the rain stopped.
Mr Lula himself was careful to leave her alone in the spotlight, save for a brief heartfelt hug. Required to step down after serving the maximum two consecutive terms permitted under Brazil’s constitution, Mr Lula has not said what he plans to do in retirement.
But he commented weeks ago that he was a ‘natural born politician’ who would not rule out maybe trying to return to the presidency after Ms Rousseff’s four-year mandate was over, depending on the performance of the woman he helped get elected.
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