Brazil's President Temer Shows Strength as He Survives Corruption Vote

08/03/2017 - 11h14

After a mobilization that included ostensible use of the state apparatus even during the plenary sitting in the Lower House, President Michel Temer (PMDB) obtained an important victory on Wednesday, August 2, as the country's lawmakers blocked the accusation of passive corruption that threatened to remove him from office.

Two hundred sixty-three federal congressmen voted against the document submitted by the country's Prosecutor General, Rodrigo Janot, based on the JBS plea bargain. There were 227 votes in favor of continuing proceedings.

The government used a wide range of resources to guarantee its survival. Ten ministers took leave to go back to the Lower House. These included the Government Secretariat Minister, Antônio Imbassahy, who took the list of amendments passed in recent days.

There was turmoil during the voting as congressmen argued and provoked each other. Those supporting the governed commemorated the end of the crisis and said that Temer should focus on the reforms again.

The president's new breath, however, is not likely to last long: Janot is preparing to submit a second accusation against the president on the grounds of obstructing justice as Temer tried to buy the silence of the former president of the Lower House, Eduardo Cunha, who is now in jail in the state of Paraná.

The government negotiated positions and amendments during the plenary sitting in the Lower House as it exchanged these for votes to save President Temer.

During the voting, government ministers and leaders used the state apparatus to attend to lawmakers who committed to reject the accusation.

In a few hours, the government calculated secretly that it had managed to obtain the votes of more than 20 "undecided" federal congressmen as it promised to meet their demands.

Translated by THOMAS MUELLO

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	Pedro Ladeira/Folhapress
	Brazil's President Michel Temer delivers a speech after congressmen of the lower house voted to reject a corruption charge against him