Portrait of Michel Temer
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Michel Temer on Jair Bolsonaro

Managed transition (moderate)

TL;DR

Michel Temer engaged in a formal transition with Jair Bolsonaro following his election, offering cooperation and support.

Key Points

  • He symbolically delivered the keys to the office and launched the transition data cabinet to Bolsonaro in November 2018.

  • Temer offered to collaborate intensely and genuinely with the president-elect until the end of his term.

  • His successor, Jair Bolsonaro, took office on January 1, 2019, following Temer's term.

Summary

Michel Temer, who succeeded Dilma Rousseff as President of Brazil, met with President-elect Jair Bolsonaro in November 2018 to formally launch the transition of power. Temer expressed a willingness to collaborate intensely and genuinely with the incoming administration, offering to share current government documents and inviting Bolsonaro to international forums like the G20. This cooperative stance in the handover period suggests a pragmatic, if not warmly supportive, relationship between the outgoing and incoming executives. Despite the incumbent's deeply unpopular tenure, he facilitated the political transfer to his successor.

Despite the formal transition, Temer's administration and Bolsonaro's represented different styles of politics; Temer was often seen as a behind-the-scenes operator relying on political maneuvering and technocrats, while Bolsonaro campaigned on an anti-establishment platform rejecting the "old politics." Temer was subsequently arrested in March 2019 as part of the sprawling anti-corruption investigation that had also marked his time in office, a different legal entanglement than the separate scandal implicating Bolsonaro.

Frequently Asked Questions

Michel Temer immediately engaged in a formal process to transition power to Jair Bolsonaro after the 2018 election. He held a meeting to symbolically hand over the office and provide necessary government information.

Temer expressed a willingness to collaborate intensely and genuinely with the incoming administration. He offered to facilitate the continuation of projects of interest to Brazil during the transition period.

Temer was arrested in March 2019 as part of a sprawling anti-corruption investigation, a few months after Jair Bolsonaro was inaugurated as President. His arrest was part of a separate probe from those surrounding his own presidency.