Brazilian President Michel Temer [official website, in Portuguese] said Sunday that he will block a controversial bill [press release, in Portuguese] that would grant amnesty to politicians who received illegal campaign donations. Temer, along with Speaker of the Lower House of Congress, Rodrigo Maia, and Speaker of the Senate, Renan Calheiros, stated that it would be “impossible” to sanction such a proposal and that to allow such a bill to pass would go against the “voice of the people.” Temer called on congress to focus instead on economic initiatives.

Brazil’s government has been wracked with charges of corruption for the past several months. Earlier this month Federal Police in Rio de Janeiro arrested former governor Sérgio Cabral on allegations of corruption [JURIST report] connected to the Olympic Games held this past summer. In October the Federal Police arrested former House speaker Eduardo Cunha [JURIST report] for his alleged participation in an embezzlement scheme. Earlier in October Brazil’s federal prosecutors filed [JURIST report] new corruption charges against former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The Federal Police arrested former finance minister Antonio Palocci [JURIST report] in September in connection with an ongoing corruption probe. Also in September the Brazil Supreme Court approved [JURIST report] a motion by prosecutors to open a preliminary investigation into accusations from Sergio Machado, former Transpetro head, that president Michel Temer sought illegal campaign donations in 2012.