Rousseff vows to stand up for her mandate
Speaking at the opening of the 12th Meeting of the Central Workers' Union in São Paulo, President Dilma Roussefff criticized opponents seeking her impeachment
Speaking at the opening of the 12th Meeting of the Central Workers' Union (CUT) on Tuesday evening (Oct. 13) in São Paulo, president Dilma Rousseff has defended her mandate and criticized opponents seeking to oust her from power. Former presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil and José Mujica of Uruguay were in the audience.
“Who would have the moral strength, unblemished reputation, and a background honorable enough to attack me? I will stand up for the term I have been chosen to serve by popular vote in a democracy,” Rousseff said. According to her, impeachment petitions filed against her lack substance. “They want to create a commotion to shorten my term no matter what, without any legal fact or substance.”
In the president's opinion, the “pro-coup” talk is not only against her but against what she represents and “against an agenda that has overcome extreme poverty”. In her defense of her government, she criticized what she called an attempt to hold “yet another runoff” of the 2014 election. “They have wanted to do that ever since the election ended,” she said.
Rousseff also said she will keep challenging the Federal Accounts Court's ruling against her accounting practices in 2014, the final year of her first term as president. “I am confident that after considering it [the auditors' ruling] carefully and by upholding the full defense principle, Congress will eventually award a sound decision. What they're referring to as 'fiscal backpedaling' is actually administrative practices that have been used by all governments before mine. By adopting them we've had no other interest than pursuing our social and investment policy,” she contended.
The president maintained her government has been making great effort to sustain previous achievements. “We are adding 1.3 million openings to PRONATEC [National Program for Technical Education and Employment]. We have secured the continuation of the minimum wage appreciation policy until 2019. We have created an employment protection policy to mitigate the impact of the crisis on workers. We have already delivered 280,000 [social housing] homes and are going to deliver another 360,000 by the end of this year.”
Former President Lula complimented Rousseff on her address and said, “as of today, we have more than a president—we have a political leader in this country.” He noted that Rousseff has another three years ahead in office, long enough to allow her to deliver on her campaign promises.
Translated by Mayra Borges
Fonte: Rousseff vows to stand up for her mandate
