Brazil replaces two more ministers amid scandal

BRASILIA, Brazil - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has replaced two more ministers to shore up crumbling support in Congress as a bribes-for votes scandal rocked his party and government.

Lula has now reshuffled 10 ministry posts since early June when the ruling Workers Party (PT) was accused of bribing right-wing lawmakers to back government legislation -- sparking Brazil's worst political crisis in over a decade.

Former PT ministers have reoccupied posts as lawmakers to defend the government, and Lula has given extra cabinet jobs to allied parties to salvage his Congressional coalition 16 months before he faces re-election.

In Tuesday's moves, Cities Minister Olivio Dutra of the PT was replaced by Marcio Fortes, executive secretary at the trade ministry. Fortes is close to lower house president Severino Cavalcanti of the Progressive Party, who had called on Lula to give his party more government influence or lose its support.

Social Security Minister Romero Juca, of the government-allied Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) was replaced by Nelson Machado, a PT-allied career civil servant at the planning ministry.

"It's a reform to improve support for the government, to defend the government rather than advance its legislative agenda," said political analyst Carlos Lopes at consultants Santafe Ideias in Brasilia.

Five PT leaders and Lula's powerful cabinet chief Jose Dirceu have been forced to step down after being implicated in the bribes-for-votes scandal. The latest was lower house PT leader Paulo Rocha on Tuesday.

Congress has launched three probes into alleged PT and government corruption in the last six weeks, paralyzing Lula's legislative agenda and worrying investors he may loosen his grip on unpopular fiscal and monetary controls to win support.

The government in late June promised to significantly increase the PMDB's cabinet presence to boost support from its biggest congressional ally.

Lula increased its weighting to just three ministerial seats from two in the reshuffle after the PMDB failed to unite behind his administration and remained split between pro- and anti-government wings, Lopes said.

- REUTERS