Brazil's interim president: I will not be candidate in 2018
Brazil's interim President Michel Temer has ruled out the possibility of standing for re-election in 2018 in case he is kept in power and said he will wait for the outcome of suspended President Rousseff's impeachment proceedings to "demand" structural changes, like the pension reform. The statement was made during a TV interview this Tuesday (Jun. 21).
"Obviously, after the Senate's decision [on impeachment], a wider field of possibilities for governability will open up. So certain issues that at this point I have not had any time to deal with yet, I will deal with later," said Temer.
He challenged once again the claims made by former Transpetro president Sérgio Machado and rejected any attempt to limit the operation of the Prosecution Service and the Federal Police. "One should not think of stopping the Operation Car Wash (investigating corruption schemes at Petrobras). It plays its role through the Prosecution Service, the Judicial branch, the Federal Police and it must advance," he said.
"I would never do it [stop the operation] and, at the institutional level, [this possibility] is even more serious. I have stood for the independence of the operation and power branches," said Temer. According to him, even though plea bargains and claims of corruption have already caused changes in his istration, with three ministers dismissed, the Operation Car Wash "is playing its role."
In the interview, the interim president also defended the approval of a political reform limiting the number of parties in Brazil and expressed to be favorable to the possibility of corporate campaign funding, as long as the contribution is limited to one party only. Last year, the Supreme Court considered unconstitutional the rules that allow corporate funding for election campaigns.
Temer said he raised "no objection to donations made by legal entities [to campaigns]. I understand that if a firm decides to a party, it should give money for that party [only], because when it opts for a candidate or a party, it is a matter of opinion. The firm says: so-and-so will work better for the country's benefit and for my benefit. What we cannot do is authorize the donation for all parties. "
About suspended President Dilma Rousseff, Temer said he had always maintained a "respectful" relationship with her. He denied the accusations of betrayal in impeachment proceedings and declared that he had not conspired to approve the impeachment proceedings for bringing Rousseff to trial for crime of responsibility.
Temer mentioned that the suspended president prefers technical issues than political relations and said that when he temporarily took over the presidency, he discovered technical mistakes and "issues to be tackled." He criticized Rousseff's proposal for calling a plebiscite in case she returns to power.
About the foreign policy, the interim president said he will only make trips abroad after the outcome of the impeachment proceedings and also said that Brazil “may not adopt stances for ideological sense" in its international relations.
Translated by Amarílis Anchieta
Fonte: Brazil's interim president: I will not be candidate in 2018
