3 Key Electoral Promises from the 2022 Campaign That Were Actually Fulfilled in the First Year
A retrospective audit of the 2023 executive acts confirms specific deliverables from the 2022 campaign platform, distinguishing between administrative rapid-response and legislative complex reforms.
The transition from campaign rhetoric to governance is rarely a linear path. Voters often struggle to distinguish between a stalled legislative proposal and an enacted executive order. Looking back at the 2022 general election and the subsequent administration's inaugural year (2023), the political landscape was defined by a push to demonstrate immediate competence after a highly polarized vote cycle.
While broader structural reforms like the tax overhaul faced the grinding machinery of Congress, the executive branch successfully utilized its unilateral powers to deliver on three specific "high-impact" pledges. By cross-referencing the 2022 government program with the Diário Oficial da União from 2023, we can isolate the promises that graduated from rhetoric to legal reality. The following analysis focuses strictly on verifiable executive acts—decrees and provisional measures—rather than aspirational bills.
The Immediate Reversal on Environmental Governance
The most distinct departure from the previous administration’s legacy occurred in environmental policy. During the 2022 campaign, the winning ticket pledged to zero out deforestation in the Amazon and reestablish Brazil’s role in global climate governance. While total eradication of illegal logging remains a long-term logistical challenge, the structural mechanism to combat it was reactivated almost immediately.
The fulfillment of this pledge came through Decree No. 11.438, signed on January 2, 2023. This executive act had a singular, tangible effect: it unblocked the Amazon Fund (Fundo Amazônia). Since 2019, the fund had been effectively paralyzed due to governance board dissolutions, freezing over R$ 3 billion in international resources meant for sustainable projects. The decree not only recomposed the fund’s steering committee (COFA) but also reinstated the guidelines for the donation of resources from Norway and Germany.
This was not merely symbolic. Within months of the decree, the first R$ 117 million in contracts were signed for projects in Pará and Amazonas. The executive order also reinstated the Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Legal Amazon (PPCDAm), which had been shelved for four years. By reinstating these specific governance structures via decree, the administration fulfilled the promise of "ending the international isolation" of the Amazon without requiring a single vote from the National Congress.
Could Executive Power Alone Lower Fuel Prices?
Economic relief for the working class was the centerpiece of the 2022 platform. The candidate explicitly promised to "lower the price of fuel" and "exempt the popular cooking gas from federal taxation." Critics argued that such promises were populist or fiscally irresponsible, yet the administration achieved this through the controversial but effective use of Provisional Measures (MPs).
The mechanism employed was Provisional Measure No. 1.185, enacted in May 2023. This act extended the zeroing of the federal tax on gasoline and ethanol (PIS/Cofins) for the remainder of the year. By utilizing an MP, the executive bypassed the slower legislative process to deliver an immediate effect at the pump. At the time of the decree's signing, the federal tax waiver saved the average consumer approximately R$ 0.50 per liter of fuel.
However, this method of fulfillment highlights a preference for centralized executive power over congressional autonomy. While the campaign promise was met, it relied on a temporary executive measure that required annual renewal, creating a cycle of uncertainty for the energy market rather than a permanent fiscal reform. Despite the trade-off regarding stability, the price reduction delivered in 2023 was a direct, measurable outcome of the executive act signed in the first half of the year.
Restoring Purchasing Power via Minimum Wage Policy
The third key promise involved the recovery of the minimum wage's purchasing power, which had eroded significantly during the preceding years of high inflation. The 2022 pledge was specific: "the minimum wage will always be above inflation." The execution of this promise required navigating the budget ceiling—a constitutional constraint that limited federal spending.
The administration fulfilled this through a technical yet powerful maneuver in the 2023 Budget Guidelines Law (LDO) and the subsequent Annual Budget Law (LOA), culminating in Decree No. 11.835 in December 2023, which set the minimum wage at R$ 1,320.00 for 2024.
This figure was not arbitrary. It represented the exact value promised during the campaign, calculated by compensating for the accumulated inflation of the previous year (INPC) plus a real gain. The Ministry of Management's Chief of Staff publicly verified these figures against the IBGE indices to ensure the "real gain" pledge was honored. By locking this value into the federal budget for the following year, the executive secured a real income increase for approximately 45 million workers. This move validated the campaign’s economic rhetoric, though it required complex fiscal maneuvers to remain compliant with spending caps. Understanding the fiscal gymnastics required to fund this adjustment—amidst debates over the alleged 'secret budget' influence in 2023 infrastructure projects—is essential to grasping the broader economic picture of that year.
The Distinction Between Decrees and Laws
The audit of these three promises reveals a governing strategy heavily reliant on executive orders for the first 12 months. The Amazon Fund, fuel taxes, and minimum wage adjustments were delivered primarily through decrees and provisional measures. This allowed the administration to claim a high "fulfillment rate" before the legislative gridlock of the coalition-based congress set in.
It is crucial for the electorate to understand that promises fulfilled by decree are fundamentally different from those requiring statutory law. Decrees can be revoked by a future stroke of the pen, whereas laws carry more permanence. As we move further into the administration's term, the focus shifts from what can be done unilaterally to what must be negotiated with Congress.
The difference between an executive order and a federal law is not just procedural; it is a test of political capital. The easy wins—tax cuts and fund reactivations—came first. The harder battles, such as the 5 steps a bill takes to become a federal law for comprehensive tax reform or pension adjustments, remain the true measure of the 2022 mandate's ultimate success.
