With his job on the line, Brazilian President Michel Temer eked out a victory in a congressional vote over a bribery charge against him that has fueled angst and anger across Latin America’s largest nation.
However, there are more legal woes ahead and clear chinks in his governing coalition, so Temer will have little time to celebrate.
Members of the Brazilian Congress’ lower house, the Chamber of Deputies, on Wednesday night voted 263-227 against suspending the president and sending him for trial before the nation’s highest court.
Photo: Bloomberg
The result effectively suspended the bribery charge, which was filed by Brazilian Attorney General Ricardo Janot in June. However, Janot is expected to charge Temer with obstruction of justice by the end of this month, which would prompt another vote that even the president’s most stalwart supporters would rather not have to go through as elections loom next year.
In a troubling sign for Temer, the 263 votes cast in support of him fell far short of the crucial 342, or two-thirds of the 513-member body, that he needs to pass an overhaul of the pension system. It is an unpopular proposal supported by the business class, which has helped keep an otherwise deeply unpopular leader in power.
“This is far from over,” said Rafael Salies, a risk consultant with the Rio de Janeiro-based Southern Pulse. “August may still have many surprises in store for him.”
The vote on the bribery charge came after a full day of procedural wrangling by the opposition, maneuvers intended to stall and force legislators to vote in the evening, when many Brazilians were home and able to watch the proceedings being broadcast live. The moves may have worked.
While Temer’s opponents made impassioned speeches about the need for him to go, many supporters said nothing beyond the minimum to procedurally cast their vote.
The measure was before the chamber because by Brazilian law a sitting president cannot be tried without the approval of the lower house, which is considered the conduit for the voice of the people. Throughout the day, there was shouting and even periodic pushing between lawmakers.
“Temer is a crook and he needs to sort out his situation with the justice department,” said Elvino Bohn Gass, a member of the Workers’ Party, one of the main opposition parties. “Brazil should not be governed by a gang of thugs.”
“Brazil can’t change presidents three times in one year,” said Sergio Moraes, making a common argument among Temer supporters that it was worth keeping him for the sake of stability. “He will be investigated later.”
A year ago, then-vice president Temer took office after Dilma Rousseff was impeached and removed as president for improperly handling government finances.
Since becoming president, his administration has been rocked by repeated scandals while still managing to move unpopular legislation forward, such as a loosening of labor rules and the proposals to trim pension benefits.
All the while, his popularity has plunged. The latest national poll said just 5 percent of Brazilians approve of Temer, while the vast majority said he should be tried for the bribery allegation.
The bribery allegation stunned even Brazilians inured to graft cases and represented the latest in a bevy of scandals flowing out of a mammoth investigation into kickbacks that has led to the jailing of many of the nation’s elite the past three years.
A recording purportedly made in March emerged in which Temer apparently supported the continued payment of hush money to Eduardo Cunha, the powerful former speaker believed to have dirt on many politicians.
Cunha is serving a 15-year sentence for corruption.
Temer allegedly orchestrated a scheme in which he would get payouts totaling millions of US dollars for helping resolve a business issue for JBS, a big meat-packing company.
A former aide was arrested while carrying a suitcase with US$150,000, much of which was allegedly destined for Temer.
Temer denies the allegations and says there is no proof he received any money.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was