Michel Temer, the acting president of Brazil, called for trust and peace to "unite Brazil." The country has been engulfed in recession, inflation and political upheaval since former President Dilma Rousseff was accused of flouting budget laws before the last election in 2014. The Senate on Thursday voted in favour of the impeachment motion against Rousseff.
Temer, who was the vice president in Rousseff's government until his party — the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party — withdrew support to the Worker's Party in March, has been accused by Rousseff and her party of being a part of a "coup."
"Trust in the values of our people and in our ability to rebuild the economy," Temer was quoted as saying by BBC. "It is urgent to restore peace and unite Brazil. We must form a government that will save the nation," he said after his Cabinet was signed in.
His Cabinet is expected to be pro-business and liked by investors, according to CNN. However, Brazilians fear that the pro-poor schemes started by the leftist Worker's Party would be scrapped. As the interim president, Temer intends to rebuild Brazil's investor-friendly climate and credit rating.
"It is essential to rebuild the credibility of the country abroad to attract new investments and get the economy growing again," he was quoted as saying by the Guardian. His Cabinet, which includes former central bank chief Henrique Meirelles as finance minister, is all white male, while Brazil is an ethnically diverse country.
"Political parties, leaders, organisations and the Brazilian people will cooperate to pull the country from this grave crisis," he was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Temer has said he would make cuts to the spending on health and education, would reform social security benefits and privatise infrastructure, among other changes, for which he has 180 days.
Opinion surveys in April had said that while the country wanted Rousseff ousted, they did not find Temer as the better option. Calls for new elections were rife then, which Temer had said was not constitutionally possible. He is also vulnerable to investigations as he and members of his Cabinet have been named in the Lava Jato graft scandal.
