Brazilian President Michel Temer may have saved his job by convincing a small majority in Brazil’s Congress not to suspend him and put him on trial for corruption, but his scandal-rocked government appears more weakened than ever.
The vote late on Wednesday marked the second time in three months that Temer survived a legislative vote that could have suspended him for a trial, but analysts said he has spent so much political capital that it raises the specter of a lame duck administration unable to enact a proposed overhaul of pensions and labor rules aimed at reviving Brazil’s economy.
“Major structural reforms, such as social security reform, tax reform, further movement on labor, I think those are dead in the water in large part because Temer doesn’t have a whole lot of political capital and legislators have very little incentive after this vote to cooperate,” said Matthew Taylor, a professor at the School of International Service at American University in Washington and a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
The 77-year-old Temer spent weeks shoring up support, doling out local projects, plum positions and favorable decrees in a successful bid to avoid being put on trial for charges of obstruction of justice and leading a criminal organization.
Temer needed backing from at least one-third of the 513 deputies in the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies — or 171 votes.
He easily passed that mark with 251 votes for him and 233 against.
Earlier in the day, Temer was hospitalized briefly for a urinary obstruction, but emerged smiling and flashing two thumbs up.
However, he did not get as much support as he did in an August vote on a separate bribery charge, when 263 lawmakers voted in his favor.
In both cases, the number of supporters fell well below the 308 votes, or three-fifths of the chamber, that he would need to pass his big proposals, such as a revamp of the pension system that he has said would help boost the economy.
Beyond criminal accusations against Temer and scandals involving several of his Cabinet ministers, many Brazilians feel the administration lacks legitimacy because of how he came to power.
Temer, then vice president, took over last year after then-Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff was impeached and removed from office. His term runs until Dec. 3 next year.
For several hours on Wednesday, many opposition lawmakers refused to enter the chamber, hoping to deny the necessary quorum and delay the vote into the night, when presumably more Brazilians are watching television.
Many stations carried the vote live, forcing deputies to decide whether to publicly support a deeply unpopular leader with elections looming next year in which all 513 seats will be up for grabs.
The charges against Temer stem from a corruption investigation that began as a probe into money laundering and ended up uncovering systemic graft in Brazil’s halls of power. Dozens of politicians and businesspeople have been jailed since the probe launched in 2014.
Prosecutors have alleged that Brazil’s government was run like a cartel for years, with political parties selling favors, votes and plum appointments to powerful businesspeople.
They have said that Temer took over the scheme when he took power last year, after Rousseff was removed, and that his party has since received about US$190 million in bribes.
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