Embattled Brazilian president survives corruption vote.
| Autor | Scruggs, Gregory |
Brazil's deeply unpopular sitting president, Michel Temer, narrowly survived a vote in the lower house of Congress to determine whether or not corruption charges against him should go to trial. In a 263-227 vote on Aug. 2, with 23 abstentions, lawmakers declined to send the president to face the Supreme Court, which would have had jurisdiction in a corruption trial stemming from allegations that Temer received millions in bribes from Brazil's largest meat conglomerate.
While Temer, of the Partido do Movimento Democratico Brasileiro (PMDB), will remain in office without facing trial for the time being, his approval ratings have plummeted to 5%, even below those of his predecessor, Dilma Rousseff, of the Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT). Rousseff was ousted last year in controversial impeachment proceedings with Temer, her vice-president, taking over at the Palacio do Planalto (NotiSur, June 24, 2016, and Sept. 30, 2016).
The federal prosecutor's office, which leveled the accusations against Temer in June, is expected to issue two more indictments before the end of the month. In September, the current chief prosecutor, Rodrigo Janot, whom Temer has accused of having a personal vendetta against him, will step down and be replaced by a deputy prosecutor widely seen as more favorable to Temer.
Contested vote
The Aug. 2 congressional vote was a raucous, multi-hour affair following damning evidence from a taped phone call in May, leaked to the press, that purported to show Temer approving bribes. The indictment made Temer the first sitting president in Brazil to face legal charges. He is the highest-ranking sitting official yet to be ensnared in Operacao Lava Jato, a wide-ranging corruption probe that has touched nearly every echelon of the Brazilian political and business structure (NotiSur, May 26, 2017, and July 28, 2017).
Inside the congressional chambers, opposition legislators unfurled banners that read Fora Temer (Temer Out) and tossed fake money into the air in what they said was a critique of how openly corruption operates in Brazilian politics. Pro-Temer lawmakers responded aggressively, and shoving matches broke out on the floor of Congress.
In late July, the government transparency group Contas Abertas noted that districts governed by pro-Temer legislators received on average R$1million (US$316,523) in federal budget allocations. In all, the Temer administration gave away R$766.4 million (US$242.6 million) in federal funds, which was...
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