Former President Michel Temer Says Rousseff Impeachment was “Coup”

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On Monday evening, September 16th, former President Michel Temer gave an interview to the ‘Roda Viva’ show, on TV Cultura.

In this interview, he classified the impeachment proceeding of former President Dilma as a coup and said that if Lula had not been barred from becoming a minister, he would have been able to defeat the congressional proceeding.

“The people said ‘Temer is a coup plotter’ and that I would have supported the coup. Quite the opposite, I never supported or pushed for the coup,” Temer said.

The opposition at the time referred to the withdrawal of Dilma‘s mandate as a coup because they said that the former president had not committed any of the crimes for which she was accused and that the case had become political rather than legal.

“I had no idea that I would become president by these means,” said Temer, who was then questioned by journalist Ricardo Noblat whether “he had not plotted, even a little?” The former president reiterated that he had not.

Journalist Daniela Lima, the show’s host, asked Temer about Lula’s impediment to becoming a minister. At the time, Rousseff put Lula in charge of the Civil Cabinet, but the decision was soon after barred by the Federal Supreme Court.

According to Temer, if Lula had remained in office, the case would most probably not have progressed. “He (Lula) had good ties with Congress,” he said.

The former president refrained from criticizing Jair Bolsonaro’s government.

Commenting on the President’s behavior, who usually adopts an informal tone in his statements and has been criticized for not appreciating the position’s tradition, Temer limited himself to saying that “each one has his own style”.

Source: Carta Capital