Michel Temer

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Michel Temer
Michel Miguel Elias Temer signature..png

Michel Miguel Elias Temer Lulia (born September 23, 1940 in Tietê ) is a Brazilian politician of the Partido do Movimento Democrático Brasileiro (PMDB). On May 12, 2016, he took over the business of government as Vice President for the period of the maximum six-month suspension of President Dilma Rousseff . After the Senate finally voted for the impeachment of Rousseff, Temer became President of Brazil on August 31, 2016 and formed a liberal - conservative government. During his presidency, accusations of corruption were repeatedly raised against him, which eventually led to investigations by the Federal Supreme Court. Despite widespread protests, a general strike and the resignation of some of his ministers, Temer refused to resign. The lifting of his immunity failed twice in the Chamber of Deputies due to the required two-thirds majority . His term of office ended on December 31, 2018, and was succeeded by Jair Bolsonaro at the beginning of 2019 . He has been in custody since May 2019.

Life

Start of political career

Temer comes from a Maronite - Lebanese family who emigrated to Brazil in 1925. Temer studied law at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (PUC-SP), where he also received his doctorate. He worked as a lawyer and as a professor at the aforementioned university and is the author of several works on the Brazilian constitution. In 1983 he became prosecutor in the state of São Paulo, and a year later he became the state's minister for public security. Temer has been a member of the PMDB since 1981. From 1995 to 1997 and from 2001 to 2016 he was president of his party.

From 1987 to 1991 Temer was a member of the Constituent Assembly of Brazil. From 1993 to 2011 he was a member of the Chamber of Deputies . From 1997 to 2000 and from 2009 to 2010 he was President of the Chamber of Deputies.

Vice President of Brazil

Temer and then American Vice President Joe Biden in October 2013

For the 2010 presidential election Temer was nominated as a candidate for the vice presidency under Dilma Rousseff by the Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT). For this, his party officially joined an electoral alliance of the PT for the first time for the presidential election. After Rousseff won the runoff election on October 31, 2010, Temer took office as Vice President on January 1, 2011.

In autumn 2015 Temer presented an economic policy draft entitled "A Bridge to the Future". In it he went harshly to court with Rousseff's left-wing Labor Party. He accused the coalition partner of "excesses" and "waste". His proposals include: rigid austerity policies, tax breaks for the rich, flexibility in the labor market, introduction of a debt brake, revision of social programs, raising the retirement age to 65 years. At the end of March 2016, his party broke the ruling coalition, so Rousseff was hardly able to bring any more laws of his own through Congress and it lacked support for an ongoing impeachment proceedings. The PMDB move was seen by some as a kind of " coup d'état " as Temer would inherit Rousseff if he were ousted.

Impeachment of President Rousseff

On May 12, 2016, the Federal Senate decided with 55 to 22 votes to suspend Rousseff for 180 days in order to investigate possible legal misconduct. The official justification for the demand for impeachment proceedings was Rousseff's alleged manipulation of budget plans to cover short-term bottlenecks before her re-election in 2014. Temer took over her duties during this time. Since the voting against Rousseff, the " processo de impeachment de Dilma Rousseff ", finally led to success on August 31, 2016, Temer Rousseff's legislature can continue until December 2018. Rousseff herself, the former guerrilla fighter against the military dictatorship, called on the population to mobilize against this “institutional coup” and to defend democracy.

CNN International described Temer as very popular on Wall Street in May 2016 , but its popularity with the Brazilian population was very low. A change of course in foreign policy is generally expected under his leadership, which will revise the independence from the USA that the PT administration had striven for. This agenda should aim, for example, at the opening of the oil fields off the coast for American oil companies as well as the formal independence of the central bank in the sense of a market-liberal financial policy. Documents published by the disclosure platform Wikileaks brought Temer the accusation of having cooperated with the United States in secret. Embassy dispatches from the then US Consul General in São Paulo, Christopher J. McMullen, reveal that Temer, as a member of parliament, informed the US embassy about the political “inner life” of Brazil in 2006. In it he criticized u. a. the social programs under President Lula da Silva and commented on the possibility of running a candidate from your own party in the next presidential election. Although the embassy dispatches also report direct meetings, Temer denied this with the argument that McMullen could also have evaluated interviews. The relationship with the USA under the predecessor Dilma Rousseff is considered to be strained, especially since Edward Snowden revealed in the global surveillance and espionage affair in 2013 that the US secret service NSA had spied on the president and her cabinet as well as the semi-state oil company Petrobras .

Presidency

Michel Temer at the first cabinet meeting as President in May 2016

After taking office, Temer announced cuts, layoffs, privatizations, pension reform and the liberalization of the labor market. On TV Globo , he announced that since he would not stand for election in 2018, he could now make “unpopular decisions”. He announced a "government of national salvation" and a stronger emphasis on religiosity. In his inaugural address, he emphasized that his government would do its utmost to support the investigation into the Lava Jato corruption scandal involving the semi-state oil company Petrobras. Critics fear, however, that Temer will hinder the Lava Jato investigations after the takeover - in favor of his supporters and himself. Temer exchanged all ministers and reorganized the institutions. Whole ministries were dissolved. Extensive exchanges took place among civil servants. It was feared that he would not - as foreseen in Brazil's constitution of 1988 - lead the government on a provisional basis until the decision on Rousseff's impeachment. As one of its first acts, the de facto government fired 4,000 civil servants. It was the first cabinet since 1979 that did not include a woman. The judiciary is investigating a third of government officials in connection with the corruption case.

Temer appointed José Serra as Foreign Minister ; the 74-year-old member of the right-wing PSDB had twice been beaten for president in the runoff election, in 2002 by Lula and 2010 by Rousseff. As finance minister Temer appointed the 70-year-old Henrique Meirelles , former chief executive of the Bank of Boston and 2003-2010 central bank chief . It stands for a market-friendly financial policy. The controversial GM soy entrepreneur Blairo Maggi , who is held responsible for the destruction of large parts of the Amazon rainforest , became the Minister of Agriculture . Industry minister was Marcos Pereira , an evangelical preacher and bishop of one of the largest Pentecostal churches in Brazil and former administrative and financial director of "TV Record do Rio de Janeiro". Ronaldo Nogueira , another preacher of the evangelical " Assembleia de Deus " , was appointed as labor minister . Temer appointed General Sérgio Etchegoyen as Minister of National Security . He appointed Romero Jucá , who is being investigated in two corruption scandals, in "Lava Jato" and in " Zelotes ", which deals with scams and tax fraud of at least 70 large companies in the tax board of the CARF affiliated to the Ministry of Finance, as Minister of Planning and Development . Venezuela and El Salvador ordered their ambassadors back from Brazil and did not recognize the Temer government.

Corruption allegations

On May 18, 2017, the Supreme Court approved a corruption investigation against Temer based on a 38-minute previously released audio recording with Joesley Batista , co-owner of the world's largest meat company , JBS , in which Temer encouraged him to conduct illegal activities. Batista is said to have approved hush money payments to the already imprisoned President of Parliament Eduardo Cunha , who is involved in the corruption affair surrounding the state-owned oil company Petrobras . Batista and his brother Wesley have signed a secret leniency agreement with the judiciary and reported having bribed politicians from all camps for years to support JBS with billions in government loans. The damage to the public sector was put at 200 million US dollars . Temer denied the reports and refused to step down, despite several ministers from his coalition partner PSDB dismissing his allegiance. Requests for impeachment proceedings in Temer have been made.

With the participation of the major social movements and many trade unions, people in protest marches demanded Temer's immediate resignation and direct elections and the suspension of the planned reforms in pension, trade union and labor law. In addition to the allegations of corruption, many Brazilians also disagree with his economic policy. His government planned to introduce longer working hours, restrict trade union rights and raise the retirement age. In Brazil, which is characterized by high inequality, many people are already living on the subsistence level. On May 24, 2017, there were general strikes in several cities - trade unions and social movements had called for the protests. In the government district in the capital Brasília , the military police used tear gas and rubber bullets to prevent a storming of Congress, several ministries had to be evacuated and the Ministry of Agriculture was set on fire. The São Paulo stock exchange temporarily collapsed by ten percent on the same day, whereupon trading was suspended for the first time since 2008.

On August 2, 2017, the Chamber of Deputies voted on criminal proceedings against Temer on suspicion of corruption. The two-thirds majority (342 out of 513 MPs) required to initiate the procedure was not achieved; the majority of the Chamber rejected the president's suspension. Temer's approval ratings among the population were last at five percent. Also in a second vote on October 25, 2017, the chamber rejected a majority (251 against 233 votes) to lift Temer's immunity.

On March 21, 2019 Temer and the former minister of mines and energy Moreira Franco were arrested. Initially released on March 26, 2019, Temer was taken into custody again on May 9, 2019.

Private

Marcela and Michel Temer with their son Michel (2017)

Temer has been married for the second time since 2003 and has a total of five children from both marriages and an illegitimate relationship. His wife Marcela Temer , born on May 16, 1983 as Marcela Tedeschi de Araújo, is a former beauty queen from the state of São Paulo .

Fonts

  • Território Federal nas Constituições Brasileiras. Ed. Revista dos Tribunais, São Paulo, SP 1975, OCLC 2596518 , further edition 1989 (Portuguese; the dissertation deals with the concept of federal territory in the Brazilian constitutions).
  • Constituição e Política. Ed. Malheiros, São Paulo, SP 1994, OCLC 31131153 (Portuguese; Constitution and Politics ).

Web links

Commons : Michel Temer  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ kev / dpa / Reuters: Brazil: Senate votes for Dilma Rousseff's impeachment. In: SPIEGEL ONLINE. spiegel.de. August 31, 2016, accessed August 31, 2016.
  2. ^ Dpa: Michel Temer: "A bridge for the future". In: handelsblatt.com . August 30, 2016. Retrieved November 18, 2016 .
  3. ↑ Julio Segador: Coalition party breaks government alliance: Brazil's crisis is coming to a head. In: tagesschau.de . March 30, 2016, accessed September 1, 2016.
  4. ↑ Jens Glüsing : Dilma Rousseff's impeachment from office: A historical injustice In: spiegel.de. September 1, 2016, accessed September 5, 2016.
  5. ^ Government crisis : Brazilian President Rousseff has to let her office rest. In: sueddeutsche.de. May 12, 2016, accessed on May 12, 2016 (sources: SZ.de/bepe/Reuters/dpa/mane).
  6. ↑ Temer wants to lead Brazil out of the crisis with a business-friendly course. In: dtoday.de. May 13, 2016, accessed September 1, 2016 (source: AFP).
  7. ^ Catherine E. Shoichet: Michel Temer: 5 things to know about Brazil's interim leader. In: cnn.com. May 12, 2016, accessed September 1, 2016 ( Michel Temer: 5 things about Brazil's interim president ).
  8. ↑ Wikileaks: President Temer is said to have been a US informant. In: futurezone.at. May 14, 2016, accessed on September 1, 2016 (source: apa / dpa).
  9. ↑ Wikileaks out the Brazilian ex-president as US informant. In: derstandart.at. May 14, 2016, accessed September 1, 2016 (source: APA, May 14, 2016).
  10. ↑ Brazil: Interim President Temer wants to make himself unpopular. In: SPIEGEL ONLINE. spiegel.de. May 16, 2016, accessed September 1, 2016.
  11. ↑ Temer promete Governo de "Salvação Nacional". In: brasil247.com. May 12, 2016, accessed September 1, 2016 (Portuguese; Temer promises government of “national rescue” ).
  12. ↑ Andreas Behn: Brazil in reverse. In: News Pool Latin America. npla.de. May 11, 2016, accessed September 1, 2016.
  13. ↑ Michael Stürzenhofecker: A Networker Wall Street Likes. In: ZEIT ONLINE. zeit.de. May 12, 2016, accessed on September 1, 2016 (with material from dpa).
  14. ^ Gustavo Uribe, Marina Dias, Daniela Lima: Governo cortará 4,000 cargos e deixará espaço para revisão da meta. In: Folha de S. Paulo . folha.uol.com.br. May 13, 2016, accessed September 1, 2016 (Portuguese; government will cut 4,000 public bodies, leaving room for a revision of the [budget] target ).
  15. ↑ Com Lusa: Governo de Michel Temer: 23 ministros, nenhuma mulher. In: Diário de Notícias. dn.pt. May 12, 2016, accessed September 1, 2016 (Portuguese; Michel Temer's government: 23 ministers, no woman ).
  16. ↑ Meet Brazil's new cabinet: the science minister is a creationist, agriculture minister deforested the Amazon. In: nationalpost.com. May 13, 2016, accessed on September 1 (English; Brazil's new cabinet in the spotlight: the science minister is a creationist , the agriculture minister cut down the Amazon ).
  17. ^ Com diversos ministros investigados, conheça a equipe de Michel Temer. ( Memento of May 18, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) In: brasileiros.com.br, accessed on September 1, 2016 (Portuguese; get to know Michel Temer's team - with various ministers who are being investigated ).
  18. ↑ Jens Glüsing : Brazil's new economic course: Amen. In: SPIEGEL ONLINE. spiegel.de. May 15, 2016, accessed September 1, 2016.
  19. ↑ Simon Romero: New President of Brazil, Michel Temer, Signals More Conservative Shift. In: The New York Times . nytimes.com, May 12, 2016, accessed on September 1, 2016 (English; The new President of Brazil, Michel Temer, shows a clear conservative swing ).
  20. ^ Andreas Fink: Brazil: Megaproblems for the men's cabinet. In: diepresse.com. May 13, 2016, accessed on September 1, 2016 ( Die Presse. Print edition, May 14, 2016).
  21. ^ Presidente de El Salvador diz que nicht reconhecerá governo de Michel Temer. In: folha.uol.com.br. May 14, 2016, Retrieved September 1, 2016 (Portuguese; El Salvador's President says he will not recognize Michel Temer's government ).
  22. ^ The new government is growing increasingly isolated, with only Argentina's Mauricio Macri publicly stating support. In: telesurtv.net. May 14, 2016, accessed September 1, 2016 ( The new government is increasingly isolated, only Argentina's Mauricio Macri publicly supports it ).
  23. ↑ Vilma Guzmán, Marta Andujo: Temer government rejects international criticism of the takeover of power in Brazil. In: amerika21.de. May 16, 2016, accessed September 1, 2016.
  24. ↑ Thomas Milz: meat barons ring in Temer's apocalypse. Brazil's president is said to have demanded payments of hush money in the Petrobras scandal. The new revelations hit like a bomb. In: nzz.ch, May 18, 2017, accessed on May 19, 2017.
  25. ^ Riots in Brasilia: Ministry of Agriculture set on fire. In: sn.at. Salzburger Nachrichten , May 24, 2017, accessed on May 1, 2019 (source: Apa / dpa).
  26. ↑ (APA / ag): Adviser to Brazil's head of state arrested. (No longer available online.) In: vol.at. May 24, 2017, archived from the original on May 24, 2017 ; accessed on September 22, 2019 .
  27. ↑ Elena Kühne, Claudia Fix: Massive protests in Brazil, government uses military. In: amerika21.de, May 26, 2017, accessed on May 1, 2019.
  28. ↑ cte / dpa / AFP: corruption scandal. Temer plunges Brazil into the next crisis. In: spiegel.de, May 19, 2017, accessed on May 19, 2017.
  29. ↑ MPs vote on the suspension of Brazil's president. In: derStandard.at, August 2, 2017, accessed on May 1, 2019.
  30. ^ Allegations of corruption. Brazil's President Temer again escapes trial. In: zeit.de, October 26, 2017, accessed on May 1, 2019 (source: ZEIT ONLINE, ap, dsc).
  31. ↑ Michel Temer: Brazil ex-president arrested in corruption probe. BBC , March 21, 2019, accessed the following day. (English)
  32. ↑ Petrobras scandal. Brazil's ex-president Temer free. In: tagesschau.de, March 26, 2019, accessed on March 26, 2019.
  33. ↑ Brazil's ex-president Temer in custody. ORF , May 9, 2019, accessed on the same day.
predecessor Office successor
Dilma Rousseff President of Brazil
2016-2018 		Jair Bolsonaro
personal data
SURNAME Temer, Michel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Temer Lulia, Michel Miguel Elias (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Brazilian politician (Partido do Movimento Democrático Brasileiro)
DATE OF BIRTH September 23, 1940
PLACE OF BIRTH Tietê