Brazilians Rally Against 'Sexist' Coup-Imposed President Temer

Protesters took to the streets banging pots and pans in at least five Brazilians cities on Sunday evening to express outrage over bizarre comments by Senate-imposed President Michel Temer in an interview with Globo TV that laid bare his sexist and neoliberal plans for the South American country.

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Pot bangers in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, San Salvador, Belo Horizonte, and Porto Alegre shouted slogans including “Temer coup-monger” and “Out with Temer” against the newly-installed conservative leader, the newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo reported.

In the interview, Temer, who has come under serious fire for appointing a cabinet of all white men for the first time since the last dictatorship, announced that he will put his own wife, Marcela Temer, in charge of women’s programs in his government — but only if and when President Dilma Rousseff is officially impeached.

In another sign that gender issues are likely to be sidelined under the Senate-imposed government, Temer bizarrely referred to women as “representatives from the female world,” a comment that garnered widespread mockery on social media. In his first day in office, Temer eliminated the Ministry of Women and Ministry of Racial Equality along with four other ministries, ostensibly in the name of austerity.  

Temer’s appearance marked his first interview since he was installed last week in the country’s top office following a Senate vote last week to suspend President Dilma Rousseff and make her face an impeachment trial over accusations of manipulated budget accounts.

Controversial Measures and Cuts

One of the most controversial moves proposed by the Temer government in welfare reform, which could see cuts to popular social programs introduced by Rousseff and her predecessor former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Temer has said that “successful” social programs will not be slashed, but it remains unclear how his administration will define “success” considering he announced in his first public speech after Rousseff’s suspension that he plans to put an end to the “bad habit” of government investment.

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In the interview, Temer also said that he does not plan to run in the election in 2018 at the end of Rousseff’s scheduled mandate, but when pressed on the issue it seemed he had not completely ruled out the possibility.

But the question seems irrelevant considering Temer has been barred from running for public office for two election cycles over electoral violations, a fact that underlines the anti-democratic nature of his imposed presidency.

Temer also faces corruption charges and possible impeachment, while seven of his minister are under investigation in what’s known as “Operation Car Wash” over their alleged involvement in the Petrobras fraud scandal.

Polls have shown Temer has dismal support among Brazilian voters, with just 2 percent saying they would vote for him in the 2018 election. Lula, on the other hand, has been seen as the favored candidate in the next election with support from over 20 percent of the electorate.

Temer has been put in office for a period of 180 days while Rousseff in suspended to face in impeachment trial. If the impeachment succeeds, Temer will be installed permanently for the remainder of the presidential term.