Page 12 - ARUBA TODAY

A12 WORLD NEWS
Wednesday 7 June 2017

Brazil’s court begins hearing on removing President Temer

cides to resign, Chamber companies.
of Deputies Speaker Rodri- Alves, a former speaker
go Maia would take over of the Chamber of Depu-
for 30 days while Congress ties, was tourism minister
voted in a new leader. under both Rousseff and
The electoral court sched- Temer, who assumed the
uled more sessions for presidency last year when
Wednesday and Thursday, Rousseff was removed for
but those could be post- illegally managing the fed-
poned if any of the seven eral budget. Alves gave
judges asks to review the up the Cabinet post soon
case. after Temer took power in
Mauricio Santoro, a politi- May 2016.
cal analyst at Rio de Janei- His arrest came just a day
ro State University, said he after federal police sent
expects the court to post- Temer a list of questions in
pone the decision or find a separate criminal probe
a way to separate Temer that involves the president.
from Rousseff’s ticket. He had 24 hours to answer
“Temer has built a coali- the questions, but his law-
tion of supporters in the yers got an extension until
Supreme Electoral Court Friday afternoon.
under the argument that Last month, a recording
people may not like him, emerged that apparently
Judges sit in the Superior Electoral Court during the judgment phase of a trial involving allega- but there’s no consensus captured Temer endors-
tions that the 2014 Rousseff-Temer ticket received illegal campaign financing in Brasilia, Brazil, about who his successor ing the payment of hush
Tuesday, June 6, 2017. The court is expected to meet for three days and could make a ruling this should be,” Santoro said. money to former Chamber
week. Horus before the trial be- of Deputies Speaker Edu-
(AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) gan, Temer’s political situ- ardo Cunha, another for-
ation deteriorated further mer ally. Cunha is serving
By MAURICIO SAVARESE the seven electoral judges. financing, as several plea with the arrest of a former a 15-year prison sentence
Associated Press The suit was brought after bargains have suggested, tourism minister and close for corruption and money
SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s the election by the right- Temer mandate would ally. Henrique Eduardo laundering.
top electoral court started leaning Brazilian Social be annulled and Con- Alves was taken into cus- Temer has denied wrong-
deciding Tuesday evening Democracy Party, whose gress would have to pick tody on allegations of cor- doing and has vowed to
whether embattled Presi- presidential candidate, Ae- some to serve out his term ruption related to the con- stay in office in the face of
dent Michel Temer should cio Neves, lost to the ticket through December 2018. struction of a 2014 World increasing calls for him to
be pushed out of office of then President Dilma However, the career poli- Cup stadium in Natal. step down.
over allegations of illegal Rousseff and Temer as her tician whose popularity is Globo News captured im- “Temer is hanging on by
campaign financing in the vice presidential running hovering around 8 percent ages of Alves being ar- the skin of his teeth,” said
2014 presidential election. mate. Ironically, the party has said he would appeal. rested by federal police. David Fleischer, a profes-
The session opened with has been a key ally of Te- Rousseff claims innocence Officials held a news con- sor emeritus of political sci-
Judge Herman Benjamin, mer since he took over the as does Temer, who argues ference later at which they ence at the University of
the special investigator in presidency after Rousseff that his team was not re- laid out allegations that Brasilia.
the case, starting to read was suspended and then sponsible for the fundrais- Alves and Fred Queiroz, Also on Tuesday, Brazil’s
his findings. The hearing impeached last year. ing of the ticket. Natal’s secretary of pub- top court, the Supreme
was expected to take If the court decides the If Temer is eventually lic works, received bribes Federal Tribunal, rejected
three days, and there is no Rousseff-Temer ticket did pushed out of the presi- from major construction a petition by Rodrigo Ro-
deadline for a final ruling of receive illegal campaign dency by the court, or de- cha Loures, a former Temer

aide, to be released from
Puerto Rico university to reopen after two-month strike jail.
Loures was arrested over
the weekend for allegedly
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) in late March to protest on May 11 and has issued because of the strike. The helping to pay off Cunha.
— Puerto Rico’s largest $450 million in proposed nearly $30,000 in penal- island’s governor is seeking Police released video that
public university is reopen- budget cuts sought by a ties since that date. The $200 million in cuts at the apparently showed Loures
ing after a two-month stu- federal control board over- Middle States Commission university. The university’s carrying a suitcase filled
dent strike that led to the seeing finances of the is- on Higher Education also previous president and sev- with $154,000. Should he
resignation of its president. land’s government. A court placed eight of 11 Univer- eral other top-level officials reach a plea bargain, his
Students on Monday voted previously ordered officials sity of Puerto Rico cam- resigned in February to pro- testimony could further im-
to end a strike that began to reopen the university puses on probation in part test the budget cuts.q plicate Temer. q