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Brazilian President Will Not Face Corruption Charges Following Congress Vote

Brazilian President Will Not Face Corruption Charges Following Congress Vote

Michel Temer had been charged following a bribery scandal

Claire Reid

Claire Reid

Michel Temer, the Brazilian President, will remain in office after the Congress of Brazil voted not to charge him for corruption.

Temer, who is hugely unpopular in Brazil, had been charged by prosecutors after an aide was accused of accepting a $150,000 (£113,000) bribe as part of a wider bribery scandal related to a $12 million (£9m) business deal.

The lower house of Congress of Brazil, the Chamber of Deputies, voted in huge numbers not to charge the right-wing leader, who himself came to power as a result of a budget scandal that lead to the impeachment of his predecessor, Dilma Rousseff.

Temer, however, was the first sitting head of state of be charged with a crime in the history of Brazil.

Michel Temer
Michel Temer

Credit: PA

A supermajority of two-thirds was required to suspend the President for up to six months while a trial took place. Instead, Temer will continue in office.

Michel Temer is hugely unpopular in Brazil, with one poll stating that 81% of Brazilians thought that the Chamber of Deputies should charge him. Now that they have decided not to impose charges, the reputation of the lower house of the Parliament among the people is in tatters.

A minimum of 190 of the some 513 deputies that hold seats within in the Chamber of Deputies are currently facing potential charges from the country's Supreme Court.

The months that have preceded the vote have seen much horsetrading by the government with the intention of swaying the vote in favour of Temer.

Michel Temer
Michel Temer

Credit: PA

An extra $1 billion (£755m) was offered to deputies in government funds intended for projects in the states that they represent, while those involved with agribusiness - a huge lobby in Brazil - were offered cutbacks that advantaged large scale farmers and disadvantaged workers.

"This is the politics of patrimonialism, of the exchange of favours, of private interests - and not of the public good," said Paulo Baia of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. "This is what causes this sense of shame."

"Temer is an ethical, transparent man," said Wladimir Costa, a deputy for the state of Para in Brazil's north. Costa recently had a tattoo bearing Temer's face inked onto his shoulder, and his state received $2.2m (£1.7m) in June and July alone from the central government.

"I want to construct a better country for each Brazilian, pacified, just, without hate or rancour. Our inexorable destiny is to be a great nation," said Temer, speaking after the vote. "I thank the Chamber of Deputies."

Source: Guardian

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Brazil, Politics