Temer faces party revolt over graft scandal

BRAZILIAN President Michel Temer is struggling to suppress a revolt in his party by lawmakers who want him out after last week’s damaging graft allegations.

The best solution to remove Temer, who is being investigated by the prosecutor-general on corruption and cover-up charges, is for the top electoral court to annul the 2014 election result in which he shared a ticket with ousted president Dilma Rousseff, said half a dozen legislators from his ruling PMDB party. The case on alleged illegal campaign financing will resume on June 6.

Temer met PMDB senators on Wednesday to tackle the dissidents, said two people with direct knowledge of the matter who asked not to be named. One Temer aide said the rebels account for no more than a handful of the party’s senators.

But some legislators from other allied parties share concerns. The largest member in the government’s allied base, the PSDB, will hold its own meeting to discuss its future in the coalition. “The mood in the PSDB caucus is one of concern,” said leader Carlos Sampaio.

The nation was rocked last week after the Supreme Court authorised a probe into Temer on allegations of passive corruption and obstruction of justice, days before Congress had to vote on a pension bill considered central to fixing the depleted public coffers and pulling the economy out of recession. Bloomberg