Brazilians expect little change after Rousseff’s suspension

Record ID: 103687

  • Title: Brazilians expect little change after Rousseff’s suspension
  • Date: 13th May 2016
  • Summary: BRASILIA, BRAZIL (MAY 13, 2016) (REUTERS) PEOPLE WAITING AT BUS STATION MAN READING NEWSPAPER AT BUS STATION VARIOUS OF PEOPLE LOOKING AT NEWSPAPER FRONT PAGES AT A NEWS-STAND (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) STUDENT, CARLOS EDUARDO NUNES, SAYING: "What happened and the way it happened might mean some economic changes for the country, but politically, I don't think much will change." (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) MOTOR TAXI DRIVER, ALES DA SILVA OLIVEIRA, SAYING: "I don't think anything will change. Nothing will change. Everyone is thinking positively, but the country's situation can't change overnight. I think it will take a long time for things to normalize. A positive speech isn't going to change anything." SIGN FOR THE JABURU PALACE, THE VICE PRESIDENTIAL RESIDENCE CAR ENTERING THE JABURU PALACE ARMED SECURITY OUTSIDE THE JABURU PALACE CLOSE-UP OF A POLITICAL BANNER FOR INTERIM PRESIDENT MICHEL TEMER VARIOUS OF POLITICAL BANNER FOR INTERIM PRESIDENT MICHEL TEMER EXTERIOR OF THE PLANALTO PRESIDENTIAL PALACE SIGN FOR THE PLANALTO PRESIDENTIAL PALACE WORKER CARING FOR THE LAWN AT THE PLANALTO PRESIDENTIAL PALACE CENTRAL LAWN IN BRASILIA WITH THE CONGRESS BUILDING IN THE BACKGROUND AND PUBLIC MINISTRIES ON EITHER SIDE VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF THE ECONOMY MINISTRY VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF THE ALVORADA PALACE, THE OFFICIAL RESIDENCE OF THE PRESIDENT JOURNALISTS
  • Embargoed: 28th May 2016 13:59
  • Keywords: Brazil impeachment Dilma Rousseff Michel Temer
  • Location: BRASILIA, BRAZIL
  • City: BRASILIA, BRAZIL
  • Country: Brazil
  • Topics: Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA0014HN61JB
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Brazilians on Friday (May 13) started the first full day under interim President Michel Temer as the new administration looks to turnaround a stalled economy and instill confidence in the government.
    Temer took power on Thursday (May 12) after the Senate voted to suspend and put on trial his leftist predecessor, Dilma Rousseff, for breaking budget laws.
    This suspension brought a dramatic end to the 13-year rule of the Workers' Party, which rode a wave of populist sentiment that swept South America starting around 2000 and enabled a generation of leftist leaders to leverage a boom in the region's commodity exports to pursue ambitious and transformative social policies.
    After Rousseff's suspension, Temer charged his new ministers with enacting business-friendly policies while maintaining the still-popular social programmes that were the hallmark of the Workers' Party.
    Residents in Brasilia told Reuters on Friday morning they did not expect any overnight changes under the new government which could hold power for up to 180 days while Rousseff is tried in the Senate.
    "What happened and the way it happened might mean some economic changes for the country, but politically, I don't think much will change," said Carlos Eduardo Nunes, a 25-year-old student.
    "I don't think anything will change. Nothing will change. Everyone is thinking positively, but the country's situation can't change overnight. I think it will take a long time for things to normalize," said moto-taxi driver Alves da Silva Oliveira.
    A constitutional scholar who spent decades in Brazil's Congress, Temer faces the momentous challenge of hauling the world's number 9 economy out of its worst recession since the Great Depression and cutting bloated public spending.
    He quickly named respected former central bank governor Henrique Meirelles as his finance minister, with a mandate to overhaul the costly pension system.
    Rousseff, 68, was automatically suspended for the duration of the trial, which could be up to six months. Before departing the presidential palace in Brasilia, a defiant Rousseff vowed to fight the charges.
    In a speech on Thursday, she reiterated what she has maintained since impeachment proceedings were launched against her last December by the lower house of Congress. She denied any wrongdoing and called the impeachment "fraudulent" and "a coup."
    Despite Rousseff's vows to fight, she is unlikely to be acquitted in the Senate trial.
    As suspended head of state, Rousseff can continue to live in her official residence, and is entitled to a staff and use of an Air Force plane.
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