Temer on Administration: "I Don't Believe I Made any Mistakes"

04/10/2017 - 12h34

Almost a year after he assumed office at the Palácio do Planalto, President Michel Temer says he believes he did not make any poor moves in his administration, only the right ones.

Temer spoke to Folha in his office on Friday (7) at the Palácio do Planalto during an interview.
He said he cannot "identify any wrongdoing" and that he was "misunderstood" in declarations made on International Women's Day, when he said, "I believe in everything that women can do for the home."

When questioned about the TSE (Superior Electoral Court) that could lead to his arrest, the president said there is no conflict of interest "whatsoever" in terms of his relationship with court president Gilmar Mendes: "So we can't talk?

The president also addressed the public accounts and pension reform in Brazil, saying that the administration conceded to Congress to the greatest extent possible. He says that the "fundamental point" of the project is to establish a minimum retirement age, but admits that there is a possibility of making a distinction for women.

Read excerpts from the interview:

Folha - Next week, you will have completed 11 months of administration. In an act of self-criticism, what mistakes have you committed?
Temer - I do not believe I have committed any mistakes. I made the right decisions with great courage. Even more than courage, it involved daring. I engaged in acts, especially with the support of Congress, that were considered daring. And we were successful.

And your infamous International Women's Day speech? Do you believe it was a mistake?
No, because it was misinterpreted. I said that, the woman, plays an incredibly important role in the country. I was also trying to discuss the economy. I have never seen an interview at a supermarket that did not interview a woman. That information is available to all of us. And I finished: today, the woman assumes leadership and executive roles at large companies.

Should the TSE ministers take into account the country's stability in the Dilma-Temer case?
It is difficult to answer on their behalf. Each one of them, subjectively speaking, will make an assessment. What I have been hearing is that we had a lot of successes in these past 11 months. I think they will make a legal assessment.

The deputy attorney general said that your ticket received US $35 M in irregular income. You are in this chair because you were elected on this ticket. How do you justify not benefitting from these irregularities?
Through the attorney general's own statement. Because the attorney general ordered and pursued the case with the TSE's signed jurisprudence in mind. And he highlights that, in my case, ineligibility cannot be decreed because I have nothing to do with those findings. You can find this in the statement.

But that doesn't have anything to do with Dilma-Temer case
But I am not commenting, I am waiting for the decision. With regard to the findings, what I want to emphasize is not my word, but the attorney general's: Temer, the vice-president, had no involvement in this. Therefore, in his opinion, the Dilma-Temer case should be pursued, due to the inseparability, but the eligibility of the current president should be maintained.

If you are prosecuted, but allowed to maintain your eligibility, would you fight for indirect election?
I hope that is not the case. And I do not think about it. Let's wait and see what happens.

The administration had to block US $13 billion from the budget this year to close out and announced an expected increase of US $40 billion in the deficit for 2018. What went wrong?
What happened is the following: over time, it was believed that revenue would grow substantially. Since revenue did not increase greatly, we are being careful. We are not doing anything to deceive the contributor, we are presenting the reality.

That forecast does not frighten the market?
No. The markets are very confident. Of course, it is obvious that they are anxious about the end of the reform episode, but I see extraordinary hope in all of them.
In his testimony to the TSE, Marcelo Odebrecht says: "I doubt that there is a politician in Brazil who was elected without off-book payments. And, if he says he made it to office without one, he is lying, because he received funds from the party."

Were you part of a campaign that offered you those kinds of funds, or did you know about there was off-book payments?
I can say, as president of the party, that the contributions I received, and they were many, officially came to the party's coffer. Now, if there was a second coffer, the person who should speak is the person who contributed to the off-book payments.

Translated by SUGHEY RAMIREZ

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