BRASILIA, (Reuters) – A Brazilian minister accused his own party of trying to destroy him and said yesterday he might not have enough support to continue in his job, raising the odds of yet another high-level departure from President Dilma Rousseff’s beleaguered government.
Cities Minister Mario Negromonte denied a media report over the weekend that he had offered money to legislators in return for their support. He said the allegations had come from members of his own small Progressive Party who are upset with him over recent budget cuts, which he said were Rousseff’s doing.
Referring to the dispute within his party, Negromonte told O Globo newspaper: “In a family fight, brothers kill brothers, and everybody dies. That’s why I said this is going to lead to blood. These people don’t know what they’re getting into.”
The comments opened up a new chapter in the wave of corruption allegations and political infighting that has put Rousseff’s economic agenda in doubt and forced four of her ministers to quit since June.
Negromonte said he still supported Rousseff, but recognized he might not have enough support from his party, the fourth-largest in the government coalition, to continue in his job.
“I’m a victim of friendly fire. To put an end to it, just a revolver wouldn’t be enough. I’d have to get a machine gun and go out shooting,” he said.
