Brazil’s Lula unveils final cabinet appointments

BRASILIA: Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has 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, reports Xinhua news agency.

"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.

Lula, who had served as the President for two terms between 2003 and 2010, is now set to serve a third four-year term.

This is a comeback for the former President who could not run in the 2018 election because he was in jail and banned from standing for office.

He had been found guilty of receiving a bribe from a Brazilian construction firm in return for contracts with Brazil's state oil company Petrobras.

He spent 580 days in jail before his conviction was annulled, marking his return to the political fray.