Michel Temer dismisses graft charge as 'soap opera plot'

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‍Brazilian President Michel Temer dismissed a bribery charge brought against him as a "soap opera" on Tuesday, saying there is no proof and vowing to fight on.

"The charge is a fiction," Temer said in his first public statement since the country's top prosecutor, Rodrigo Janot, filed the corruption charge with the Supreme Court late on Monday.

Brazilian President Michel Temer speaks at a press conference at Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil June 27, 2017. / VCG Photo

"Where is the concrete proof of my receiving this money?" Temer asked as he made a nationally televised statement at the presidential palace in Brasilia.

Temer attacked Janot for creating "a soap opera plot" that sought to "paralyze" Latin America's biggest country as it struggles out of a painful recession.

Temer is also under investigation for obstruction of justice and belonging to a criminal organization.

Brazilian President Michel Temer speaks at a press conference at Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil June 27, 2017. /VCG Photo

If the lower house of Congress votes by a two-thirds majority to accept the charge, the center-right president would be suspended for 180 days and face trial in the Supreme Court.

However, Temer's aides say they are confident he has sufficient support in the scandal-plagued Congress - where dozens of lawmakers have been caught up in the same sweeping graft probe - to get the charge thrown out.

Janot responded to Temer's statement, insisting "there is masses of evidence... leaving no doubt about the substance or the authorship of the crime of passive corruption."

Brazil's Prosecutor General Rodrigo Janot during a session of the National Public Prosecutor's Council, in Brasilia, Brazil June 27, 2017. / VCG Photo

Many Brazilians say they are losing faith in all their politicians.

Temer's latest approval ratings are just seven percent, lower even than his leftist predecessor Dilma Rousseff, whom he replaced last year after she was impeached and removed from office by his congressional allies for falsifying budgetary documents.

Brazilian President Michel Temer during press statement, at Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil June 27, 2017. / VCG Photo

But with the public so far failing to exert pressure in the streets, as happened during mass demonstrations against Rousseff, Congress may prefer to keep its head down.

Many lawmakers are themselves facing corruption investigations. Also, there is no agreement on a corruption-free consensus candidate who could fill Temer's shoes until scheduled elections in October 2018 if he were removed.

(Source: AFP)

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