Brazil: government wants to set minimum retirement age

Interim President Michel Temer has admitted that a minimum eligibility age for retirement will be part of the discussions for the proposed reform in Brazil's pension system.

“We'll even create transition rules if required. This is all for the benefit of the people who will retire in the future. If the government cannot afford to fund these people's benefits when they retire, that's their loss after all,” Temer said in a TV interview Thursday (June 2).

Commenting on the recently approved pay rise for civil service workers, Temer said the details had been arranged during Rousseff's administration. “On the one hand, this should help appease several sections of civil service workers in their relations with the government. This pay rise had been an old grievance. It is barely enough to make up for inflation. It helps both the government and the workers. Of course political and economic calculations [have gone into approving it].”

The interim president also said that he backed down on his decision to close down the Ministry of Culture because “only authoritarians don't back down when they realize they have made a mistake.” He claimed, however, that he sees a political tone to artists' protests against the closure, because even though the ministry has now been reinstated, the “sit-ins at culture buildings still go on.”

Asked about the ongoing impeachment trial of President Dilma Rousseff, Temer said “the country would benefit” from an early judgment, because being in a temporary situation “is no good” for Brazil, for Rousseff, or for the government.

Talking about the removal of two ministers in his cabinet over misconduct allegations, Temer said that this is going to be the standard response to any such cases in his administration. “The ministers will have to step down for sure. If there are any indictments, I think the ministers themselves will make the move to resign,” he said.

Translated by Mayra Borges