Brazilian President Temer survives parliamentary commission vote

The Commission on Constitution, Justice and Citizenship (CCJ) of Brazil's Chamber of Deputies voted on Thursday to reject the corruption charges against President Michel Temer by 40 votes to 25.

In this way, the CCJ advises the full Chamber of Deputies to vote against the report elaborated by deputy Sergio Zveiter, which recommended accepting the charges, Xinhua reported.

This result was expected as, in recent days, the government succeeded in changing a number of CCJ members who had threatened to vote against the president.

Ahead of these changes, Temer was set to lose a CCJ vote by 32 to 30, according to estimations by Brazilian media.

Before the vote on Thursday, Zveiter said the government had used public money to try and save its mandate, which consisted "obstruction of justice."

However, this vote is a non-binding, advisory motion for the full Chamber of Deputies which must now vote on whether to accept the corruption charges against Temer.

Prosecutor-general Rodrigo Janot filed charges against Temer at the Supreme Court, accusing the president of accepting bribes from meatpacking group JBS since 2010.

If the Chamber of Deputies and the Supreme Court both accept the charges, Temer will step down from office for 180 days and face trial.

This would be the first time that a sitting president has been charged before the Supreme Court.

--IANS

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