Brazilian minister quits in latest cabinet change
Thu, 2 Feb 2012 20:13 GMT
Brazilian Minister of the Cities Negromonte greets Governor of Bahia Wagner during the inauguration of the new ministers of Education and Science, Technology and Innovation at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia 02/02/2012 REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino
* Minister of Cities steps down, widely expected
* His departure unlikely to shake-up ruling coalition
* President Rousseff aims to place technocrats at ministries (Adds minister replacement)
BRASILIA, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Brazil's cities minister quit on Thursday in a widely expected departure that is part of a slow cabinet reshuffle by President Dilma Rousseff at the start of her second year in office.
The exit of Mario Negromonte, who denied media reports last year that he offered money to legislators for support, is unlikely to raise tensions within the government's coalition of 17 parties. Negromonte is a member of the Partido Progressista, one of the smaller parties in the coalition.
For months, Rousseff resisted pressure to dismiss Negromonte after several of her ministers left following corruption allegations. Six ministers were dismissed last year due to corruption or ethical breaches.
Rousseff has sought in recent weeks to make changes in a cabinet made up largely of political allies and former aides of her predecessor as president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Rousseff considered Negromonte to be a weak manager, officials have told Reuters.
She replaced Negromonte with Aguinaldo Ribeiro, a lawmaker from the same party. In a deal with the party, she placed technocrats in top posts at the ministry, government sources said.
In Brazilian politics, there's a longstanding tradition by which coalition parties get to name cabinet ministers in exchange for backing the government in Congress.
The president has shown a preference for appointing officials with long experience in government or specific fields, rather than those with merely political connections. In January, she named a technocrat as minister of science and technology.
Her economic team is expected to remain unchanged during the reshuffle, which is likely to focus on minor ministries. (Reporting by Hugo Bachega and Alonso Soto; editing by Mohammad Zargham and Cynthia Osterman)
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