Relieved of corruption charges, Temer vows to press on with reforms

In a night address yesterday (Aug. 2), President Michel Temer said he will press on with the reforms and actions he deems necessary to modernize and improve the country, now that the Chamber of Deputies has dropped the corruption charges against him. “In the face of this eloquent decision, I can say we will go ahead with the necessary actions to complete the job my government started just over a year ago,” he said.

Instancing the changes that have taken place under his administration, including a labor reform, interest cuts, and decreasing inflation, Temer vowed to “do much more to restore fiscal balance, as we have been doing, once and for all. And we will roll out all the other structural reforms the country needs.”

The president gave an address shortly after the lower house voting that rejected the charges against him. The committee report drafted by Deputy Paulo Abi-Ackel recommending the dismissal of the charges was approved by the Chamber of Deputies by 263 votes to 227. At least 342 votes against the report would have been needed to proceed with the case to the Supreme Court.

In his statement, which lasted about eight minutes, the president also said he wanted to build a country with no hatred or rancor. “Brazil is ready to grow even more. We are all Brazilians, part of the same nation, and we all share the same rights and responsibilities,” he said.

Having survived a case that could have unseated him, Temer now shifts his focus back to the reform agenda. Political coordination to approve a pension reform, streamline the tax system, as well as travel plans, will again be the main topics in government business. In September, Temer will attend a meeting of the BRICS bloc (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) in China and the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Translated by Mayra Borges