While Rousseff’s budget-balancing tricks, which included delaying government repayments to banks to underplay the deficit, are thought to have also been used by her predecessors, the former guerrilla fighter’s popularity has cratered: Brazil suffered six consecutive quarters of negative growth and is mired in corruption scandals implicating officials close to the outgoing president.
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Hours after being sworn following an impeachment trial that ousted president Dilma Rousseff, Temer said his priority is to put a cap on government spending through a budget reform.
As a leader of the country’s biggest party, the ideologically flexible Brazilian Democratic Party Movement, Temer won election as head of the lower house of Congress for almost a decade.
That means Rousseff has the right to run for office again. But in the short-term, his priority will be economic recovery against the backdrop of a severe recession, in which two million jobs were lost over the past 12 months.
Positive impact on Brazil’s economy?
“It began because 90% of the population has said loudly, no more (Workers’ Party)”, he said.
“Although there are very few Temer supporters per se, the business community appears hopeful about the increased political stability his investiture is expected to bring”.
Still, there are signs that Brazil’s economy is improving.
However, the outlook remains bleak for the world’s fifth largest country with the OECD estimating negative growth in 2016 and 2017, and yet higher levels of unemployment.
In the background of the entire fight was a wide-ranging investigation into billions of dollars in kickbacks at state oil company Petrobras. After the Senate trial, a majority of the legislators found her guilty of bypassing Congress for government spending.
Rousseff’s replacement, interim President Michel Temer, has a long road ahead, experts say.
Her government policies, her U-turn on the economy after the election and corruption in her party were constantly part of the debate. “I think she understands I did all this in consideration of her grandchildren”.
“Only those politicians who are financially dependent on the Workers’ Party will remain”. Those who have greater electoral and financial viability outside of the Workers’ Party will look for other alternatives.
“I believe that coalition presidentialism will return to its normal standard, a standard of cooperation, predictability of behavior, sharing of power, construction of more homogenous coalitions”.
Rousseff testified in her own defense on Monday in an uncompromising speech that branded the plot to oust her a “parliamentary coup”, warning that “democracy is condemned along with me”. Just 14 percent said they approved of Temer’s performance in a July poll by Datafolha. “It’s hard to live with a coup-mongering government, a government that doesn’t have popular legitimacy”.
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In a final attempt to defend herself before the Brazilian Senate this week, suspended Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff called her opponents “usurpers” and “coup-mongers” and begged lawmakers to maintain their faith she did not misuse her authority to help herself get re-elected in 2014.
