Brazil’s new acting President Michel Temer moved swiftly to form his cabinet, appointing a successful inflation-fighter as finance minister only moments after Dilma Rousseff stepped aside, ousted by a Senate vote in favor of her impeachment.
Temer, a 75 year-old constitutional lawyer appointed Henrique Meirelles, a former central bank chief and Wall Street banker, to head his economic team, according to a text message sent by his press office. Among the twenty appointments he made are several senators, including Romero Juca of his own party, who is to head the planning and budget ministry.
Moments earlier Senate clerks hand-delivered the official notification to Temer and Rousseff that the Senate voted to try her on charges of illegally doctoring fiscal accounts to mask the size of the budget deficit. The vote that forced Rousseff to step down during her trial followed a 21 hour debate lasting through the night.
“I may have committed mistakes but no crimes,” she told reporters before leaving the presidential palace to greet a crowd of cheering supporters.
Rousseff’s trial in the Senate could be wrapped up by September, according to Juca, who heads Brazil’s largest party, the PMDB. She will maintain some presidential privileges such as an official residence, a salary, a security detail and personal staff.
Unlike the mass protests earlier in the year for and against impeachment, the turnout of demonstrations in the run-up to the Senate vote was small, with only isolated clashes with police reported. The vote itself was also more serene than the raucous tally in the lower house last month.
Temer’s aides said he will work fast to build support amid above-target inflation, double-digit unemployment and a near-record budget deficit. He is due to address the nation at 4 p.m. local time. His strategy will be to generate a sense of optimism that has long been absent in the country, said Harold Trinkunas, director of the Latin America Initiative at the Brookings Institution in Washington.
“Temer can’t make a mistake now,” said Senator Aecio Neves, leader of the
opposition Brazilian Social Democracy Party and runner-up to Rousseff in the 2014 presidential race.
Investors are split over whether Temer, a career politician and constitutional lawyer, can unify Brazil and revive growth. While they welcome his plan to downsize government and to make more room for the private sector, some also fear political turmoil could persist and even intensify as critics challenge his legitimacy and try to block his proposals.
(Source: BLOOMBERG)