The former president () compared the coup acts of January 8th with the demonstrations against the pension reform organized by trade unions during his government.
During an event this Monday (25) organized by the CNC (National Confederation of Commerce in Goods, Services and Tourism), in São Paulo, Temer spoke about what he called the current “radicalization” of the country.
“They invaded buildings now on January 8th. But you remember that in my government, when we were taking care of the pension reform, the unions sent 1,600 buses there, which set ministries on fire, tried to invade Congress, turned over cars, burned cars”, he said.
According to the former president, after a few hours of demonstration, a minister of his suggested calling the people for a GLO (Guarantee of Law and Order).
“Six o’clock [da tarde] finished everything. There was news at night and the next morning. But, when it was noon, the press interviewed me, and I said: if the episode is from yesterday, yesterday is the past. I’m not talking about the past, I’m going to talk about the future”, he stated during the event.
Temer said that the decision to “move forward” was motivated by the constitutional determination to adopt a peaceful solution to all controversies. “We don’t have a peaceful solution here. We have a solution of war, of litigation. One talks about the other, people attack each other,” he said.
At the event, Temer compared the Brazilian scenario with that of the United Kingdom, a country that, in his opinion, fully exercises democracy.
“Here’s the thing, if I lose the election, my duty is to destroy those who won. This harms governability and, therefore, harms the people,” he stated.
In an interview with journalists after the panel, Temer was asked about the indictment of the former president () and the revelations of plans to kill the president (), the vice president () and the minister of the (Supreme Federal Court).
The former president reaffirmed that he saw no risks to democracy. “Although there are attempts, the fact is that they don’t go ahead. They don’t go ahead because there is no climate in the country. And, let’s face it, a real coup can only be had when the Armed Forces are willing to do it,” he stated.
Regarding the participation of military personnel in the plan, Temer minimized it and said that it was “some military personnel”. “It was not the institution as a whole. Be it the Army, Navy, Air Force, they did not participate in this as an institution. Figures participated,” he added.
