Temer is considering removing Padilha from the Chief of Staff position. The reason: Lava Jato.
The testimonies of former Odebrecht executives have worried Michel Temer; to give the government a new profile after the election for the leadership of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate in February 2017, the PMDB member is considering reshuffling the team targeted by corruption allegations in Operation Lava Jato; the continued presence of the Chief of Staff, Eliseu Padilha, and the Secretary of the Investment Partnerships Program (PPI), Moreira Franco, both mentioned in the testimony of former Odebrecht Institutional Relations Director Cláudio Melo Filho, is considered uncertain; involvement in corruption, economic recession, poor performance in polls, and even a strain on the allied base with Senator Ronaldo Caiado (DEM-GO) calling for Temer's resignation demonstrate the government's fragility in overcoming the political and economic crises.
247- The testimonies of former Odebrecht executives have worried President Michel Temer. To give the government a new profile after the election to lead the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate in February 2017, the PMDB member is considering reshuffling the team targeted by corruption allegations.
The continued tenure of the Chief of Staff, Eliseu Padilha, and the Secretary of the Investment Partnerships Program (PPI), Moreira Franco, is considered uncertain, despite official denials. In addition to Temer, Padilha and Moreira were mentioned in the testimony of the former Director of Institutional Relations at Odebrecht, Cláudio Melo Filho.
The president intends to appoint a more technical and "internal" profile to the Civil House, which coordinates the team's actions. Regarding the PPI secretariat, the idea is to create a special secretariat within the Ministry of Finance, headed by Henrique Meirelles, to house discussions focused on new initiatives aimed at economic growth.
The former Odebrecht executive stated that the main interlocutors were Eliseu Padilha, Moreira Franco to a lesser extent, and, ultimately, Michel Temer himself, then president of the PMDB party and vice-president in Dilma Rousseff's governments (between 2011 and 2016). "To get my requests to Michel Temer, I used Eliseu Padilha or Moreira Franco, who represented him. This was a two-way street, as the current president of the Republic also used his representatives to achieve personal interests, as in the case of the payments I participated in, handled through Eliseu Padilha," the whistleblower stated.
According to the former executive, Temer requested direct financing from Marcelo Odebrecht at a dinner, which he believes took place in May 2014. The PMDB member asked for a payment of US$10 million. Of this amount, 60% (R$6 million) would have been destined for Paulo Skaf, then a candidate for governor of São Paulo, and 40% (R$4 million) for Eliseu Padilha. Part of the money would have been delivered to the office of José Yunes, current special advisor to the Presidency of the Republic.
Temer, Padilha, Moreira Franco, and Skaf denied the accusations.
In addition to changes in the Civil House and the PPI secretariat, replacements in the Ministries of Labor and Health are also reportedly being considered, according to information released by Agência Estado.
Tensions within the allied base and the PSDB factor.
The worsening crisis is increasingly troubling the Planalto Palace, which managed to get the Spending Cap Amendment Proposal (PEC) approved in the Senate, but with eight losses in its support base.
The week was marked by tensions, clashes between branches of government, and even Senator Ronaldo Caiado (DEM-GO), an ally, suggested Temer's resignation. The DEM party controls the Ministry of Education. The PSB caucus, which controls the Ministry of Mines and Energy, announced it will vote against the pension reform.
Temer also postponed the appointment of the PSDB leader in the Chamber of Deputies, Antonio Imbassahy (BA), to the Government Secretariat. He agreed with Senator Aécio Neves (PSDB-MG) that Imbassahy will take the place of Minister Geddel Vieira Lima in political coordination, but only when the Chamber of Deputies chooses its new president.
The president backed down from the announcement because he depends on the Centrão, a group that brings together 13 parties and about 200 deputies, to guarantee solid political support. The Centrão interpreted Imbassahy's nomination as a maneuver by the Planalto Palace to benefit the reelection of Rodrigo Maia (DEM-RJ) as president of the Chamber of Deputies, with the approval of the PSDB.
In addition to the economic recession, the weakening of his allied base, and the mentions in plea bargains of both Temer and the leadership of his party, Temer is also not doing well in the polls. An Ibope survey, commissioned by the National Confederation of Industry (CNI), indicates that the percentage of Brazilians who consider Michel Temer's government bad or terrible has increased from 39% to 46%.
According to the data, 64% of the population disapproves of Temer's governing style; in October, the percentage was 55%. The survey showed that 72% of Brazilians said they still do not trust Michel Temer, whose negative rating also increased by nine points, to 69%.see here).