For prince Hamlet, the fundamental dilemma was expressed through his "to be or not to be". For Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the doubt was of another kind, simpler, almost insignificant in the life of rulers from democratic countries.

The long and inexplicable indecision converted a routine into a transcendental and atrocious issue: to hold or not to hold a press conference to the journalists accredited to the Palácio do Planalto.

After 28 months and, at least, two disastrous palliatives, the lacerating anguish ended: at 10:40 AM on Friday (April 29), President Lula finally faced the press professionals for one hour and a half and answered the 14 questions that were asked of him.

And the world did not come to an end. The stock market did not collapse, the country risk did not shoot up, our international relations were not shaken, neither was our political conjuncture threatened.

The President said the things he is used to say, the way he does it almost daily; the gaffes were kept at the habitual level and even having changed the name of the Portuguese former prime minister Barroso Durão (calling him Durão Barroso), he passed with flying colors showing that he is able to repress the populist impulses that sometimes gets him bordering vulgarity.

Communicating Vases

It was evident that the President prepared himself. He got a briefing. But any business man, authority, politician or chief of state needs to be briefed before any public presentation. Not doing this means not fulfilling his commitment to those to whom he owes explanations.

Neither Winston Churchill, the most inspired speaker of the 20th century, trusted his own rhetoric: his historical "improvisations" were memorized and not only to be included in future oratory anthologies, but to immediately influence the course of History.

The journalists, from what was seen and heard, were the ones who did not know how to get conveniently prepared. Some questions seemed rehashed, and rare were the ones that gave sequence to the previous answers of the interviewee.

As if they had not heard or were not able to react to the interlocutor, as if the vice of the newsroom guidelines had hardened their curiosity and questioning instinct.

When demanding explanation from the President on excessive criticisms to the press, at least for solidarity, it should have been brought to attention the front-page news of some morning newspapers that same day, which reported on the surprising sentence that determined the prison of journalist Jorge Kajuru.

Although the Executive has nothing to do with the Judiciary, it is evident that the principle of communicating vases hasn't been revoked yet. This reflection, between commas, could not have been left out.

In disrespecting what was agreed upon - one question per person - and weaving together three questions completely unrelated to each other - some journalists passed the impression that the press does not know how to respect rules that it previously accepted.

The President did not reveal anything new. The headlines that he produced were anticipated and had the same intensity of past interventions during boring palatial ceremonies.

But the civilized appearance before the national and international media offered a transparency and dialogue climate able to place Lula da Silva in a footing diametrically opposite to Hugo Chávez. With the advantage of helping to revert his government's falling popularity ratings.

This normalcy and expectedness brought in by the first formal press conference of President Lula since his inauguration begs the crucial question: why the delay?

Which personal, operational, political, legal or institutional problem has prevented the government from fulfilling the simple obligation of submitting itself to the scrutiny of the press and, through it, of  society?

This is a secret that only will be revealed in the next interview. It just needs to be scheduled.

Alberto Dines, the author, is a journalist, founder and researcher at LABJOR - Laboratório de Estudos Avançados em Jornalismo (Laboratory for Advanced Studies in Journalism) at UNICAMP (University of Campinas) and editor of the "Observatório da Imprensa." You can reach him by email at obsimp@ig.com-br.

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