Interim President Michel Temer is not planning to participate in the closing ceremony for the Olympic Games, set for Sunday the 21st at Maracanã stadium.

Last week Folha had anticipated that the PMDB leader would be reluctant to participate in the event. And now, the President has informed his aides and assistants that he plans to not participate at the closing.

The concern surrounding the interim President is that right before the final phase of the impeachment process for Dilma Rousseff in the Senate, which is set to begin on the 25th, any new booing could have an unnecessary negative effect on his image.

At the opening ceremonies to the worldwide competition on the 5th, the interim President tried without success to avoid being booed and heckled by spectators.

The organizers of the event tried to spare him. His name wasn't announced at any moment during the ceremony even though it was included in the official script. However, he was booed after all when he declared the opening of the Games.

According to what Folha has learned, the PMDB leader will recommend to the IOC (International Olympic Committee) that he be substituted by the President of the Congress, Rodrigo Maia (DEM-RJ), or of the Senate, Renan Calheiros (PMDB-AL).

With the absence of the interim President at the ceremony itself, the Brazilian Government is now considering the best way to arrange for a bilateral encounter between Temer and the Japanese Prime Minister, Shjinzo Abe, who should be in Rio de Janeiro for the ceremony.

With the federal government's expectation that suspended president Dilma Rousseff will be definitively removed by the end of the month, the interim President has already indicated to aides and assistants that he is planning to participate in the opening ceremony for the Paralympics on the 7th of September.

Translated by LLOYD HARDER

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