His resignation adds to recent upheaval at the tourism ministry, where a global marketing campaign for the Olympics was held up for months because of a revolving door of ministers and secretaries caused by Brazil’s political crisis.
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But the Petrobras probe remains a major threat to his government. While the donation was made legally through the company, the funds were obtained illegally through a bribery scheme for contracts with Petrobras.
Alves, a member of Temer’s center-right PMDB party, joins former transparency minister Fabiano Silveira and former planning minister Romero Juca, who were both forced to resign over leaked phone recordings linked to the scandal.
An irate Temer took to national television Thursday to deny the allegation.
Representatives of Mr. Temer couldn’t immediately be reached for comment, but he has denied the allegation in the past. “A foolish suggestion like that can confound the government’s work”.
The plea bargain testimony, implicating Temer and senior members of his ruling coalition, stole the thunder from a landmark fiscal reform revealed the same day.
Brazilian media outlets reported on June 15 that Sergio Machado, the former director of Transpetro – a subsidiary of state-run oil company Petróleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) – had accused interim President Michel Temer of negotiating an illicit campaign contribution of 1.5 million reais (about $430,000) for a candidate in the 2012 São Paulo mayoral election.
News of the allegations overshadowed the announcement of a constitutional amendment to cap the growth of public spending for up to 20 years, a flagship economic initiative by the one-month-old Temer government and the most important fiscal policy shift in decades.
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Temer was vice president until May, when President Dilma Rousseff was suspended from office to face trial in the Senate on charges of breaking budget laws. If just a couple of them change sides, the Temer camp would lose the 54 votes it needs – two-thirds of the 81-seat Senate – to convict Rousseff.
