Cunha was temporarily removed from his position as the President of the Chamber of Deputies (lower house of Congress) in mid-May due to allegations of corruption and obstruction of justice.
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He resigned as speaker in July amid swirling accusations of corruption linked to the huge state oil company Petrobras.
Temer, who formally took his post after Dilma Rousseff’s recent impeachment, also said contracts will be offered to private companies for projects including mining and building new roads.
Cunha was formally accused by the House of lying to his colleagues by denying, in March of 2015, having “whatever type of account” overseas – a phrase spoken before the existence of money linked to the PMDB leader in Switzerland came to light.
Cunha, who denies any wrongdoing, handled his own defense at Monday’s session. He said, “Where is the proof?”
But his appeals fell on deaf ears.
(AP Photo/Eraldo Peres). An inflatable doll with the likeness of former President of the Chamber of Deputies Eduardo Cunha floats in the Chamber of Deputies in Brasilia, Brazil, Monday, Sept. 12, 2016.
The impeachment drama ended 13 years of leftist rule in Brazil amid the worst recession in 80 years. The process dragged on for nearly a year, the longest in Brazilian history.
Temer emphasized that she is “the first woman to head the Attorney General’s Office”, but he also noted that she is the first female to join his Cabinet after he has received much criticism in recent months for having only men as heads of the various government portfolios.
“On the other side of the street, in the government palace, there are people trembling”, said Maria do Rosario, a congresswoman with Ms Rousseff’s Workers’ Party (PT).
The Senate and the Chamber of Deputies make up the country’s Congress. Cunha, who abandoned Rousseff’s coalition a year ago, initiated the impeachment proceedings in December against the then-president for manipulating public accounts.
Cunha was long considered one of the best wheelers-and-dealers in Brasilia, building a considerable support base including the powerful agriculture lobby, fellow evangelicals and the so-called “bullet caucus” of politicians with police and army connections.
His plan to impeach Rousseff, his biggest political opponent, was eventually successful.
“It’s the price I’m paying so Brazil can be free of the PT”.
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“Does anyone have any doubt that if I hadn’t acted there would have been no impeachment?” “This criminal of a government of yours is now gone thanks to me”.
