Friday, March 29, 2024 | Ramadan 18, 1445 H
clear sky
weather
OMAN
25°C / 25°C
EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Brazil’s president reeling after hush money claim

1015959
1015959
minus
plus

Brasília: Brazil’s President Michel Temer (pictured) reeled on Thursday from a report that he authorised payment of hush money to a jailed politician in a scandal threatening to plunge Latin America’s biggest country into political meltdown.


Markets plummeted on opening as investors reacted to the crisis, as well as turmoil around US President Donald Trump, with fears that Temer’s centre-right government will be hamstrung in its attempt to push through austerity reforms.


Demands for Temer’s impeachment and new elections sprang up from opposition lawmakers, while small crowds appeared in Sao Paulo and Brasilia overnight shouting: “Temer out.”


In another blow for the veteran leader of the PMDB party, the prosecutor general asked for authority to arrest his key ally Senator Aecio Neves from the PSDB party on bribery charges.


The Supreme Court suspended Neves and was to decide later on his arrest. Officers could be seen entering Neves’ property in Rio de Janeiro and his sister Andrea was arrested in Belo Horizonte.


The crisis leaves Temer, 76, facing two immediate problems. — AFP


SHARE ARTICLE
arrow up
home icon