Brazil braces for nationwide demonstrations

BRASÍLIA: Brazil’s political crisis headed into a weekend dominated by protests and President Michel Temer’s attempt to secure enough allies to save himself after being accused of obstructing justice.

Temer needs to maintain sufficient backing in Congress to ward off calls for his impeachment barely a year after he took over in the wake of his predecessor Dilma Rousseff ’s own impeachment.

On Sunday, temperatures will rise further with nationwide protests planned by leftist groups demanding Temer step down. The turnout at the protests will be closely watched as a gauge of the public mood. On Friday, the Supreme released court filings in Court which Prosecutor General Rodrigo Janot accused Temer and a senior senator of attempting to block a huge anticorruption investigation known as “Car Wash.”

This came after authorities released what they said was a secretly recorded conversation between Temer and a business executive in which the president is purported to have given his blessing to monthly payments of hush money to a jailed politician.

That politician — former lower house speaker Eduardo Cunha — is in prison after a “Car Wash” judge convicted him of bribe-taking.

Temer angrily denied any wrongdoing in a televised address on Thursday and rebutted mounting calls for his resignation.

— Reuters A demonstrator holds a sign during a protest against Brazil’s President Michel Temer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The sign reads: “Elections Now.”