Address by the President of the Republic, Michel Temer, during the opening ceremony of the II National Control Forum - Brasília/DF

I would naturally like to salute Justice Raimundo Carreiro, Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Auditors; Justice José Múcio Monteiro, Deputy Chief Justice of the Court; Justice Augusto Nardes, who has dedicated so much to this task;

Ms. Raquel Dodge, Prosecutor General of the Republic;

Ministers Eliseu Padilha and Wagner Rosário;

João Martins, president of the National Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock of Brazil;

Robson Andrade, president of CNI [National Confederation of Industry];

And all other authorities, especially those in the auditorium.

Of course, I want to thank Chief Justice Carreiro for the invitation to participate in the opening ceremony of this Forum.

Incidentally, it is a great pleasure to see, to return here to the Serzedello Corrêa Institute, whose state-of-the-art facilities we had the privilege to inaugurate about two years ago.

I also take this opportunity to salute Augusto Nardes for the coordination of these works.

I remember that a long time ago, Nardes invited me to a meeting of the Court of Auditors in Rio Grande do Sul. At the time, I think I was the president of the Chamber of Deputies, and even back then I already outlined the thesis, and he then carried it on, the issue of governance, how to govern better, and now, precisely today, I see that it has been a year, hasn't it? A year since we were in the Palace signing an act regarding this participation of the Executive, or rather, this integration of the Executive into these activities related to governance.

And I want to say that this Forum could not be held at a more opportune moment, because I see from the topics that will be discussed, which will later on be presented to our rulers, that the Brazilian people have recently sovereignly elected to enact proposals for greater integration between the different external and internal control institutions.

Moreover, proposals are made in the three spheres of government for these institutions to work in a more cohesive, coordinated and effective manner.

As a matter of fact, I have to register... I have had the satisfaction, during our administration, to see absolute integration between the CGU [Office of the Comptroller General], the [Ministry of] Transparency, the Court of Auditors and the Federal Prosecution Service. These are bodies, as pointed out by the General Prosecutor, who are fraternal brothers in the control of accounts, of public accounts.

And our external control bodies, therefore, are really dedicated, day and night, to the most productive mission. It is a mission that, in fact, aims to build a more efficient, leaner, more transparent State. And that's what we need the most. To build, in fact, a more modern country, with quality public administration, that fulfils with excellence its greater role, that is precisely to serve the citizen.

And I want, with great satisfaction, to say that in the subjects discussed here... And I hope that the debate will also include matters that we have, I would not say the courage, but the boldness

to carry forward. As for example, the issue of Public Security. So much has been said about public security for so long, and the federal government has never wanted to go into that. Although it was for the purpose of coordinating and integrating the various public security agencies of the states and municipalities. And we, I say again, had the audacity to create a special ministry: the Ministry of Public Security.

In fact, yesterday - I must communicate... You should know this, but yesterday, the Federal Senate approved a Provisional Measure that we have issued with a view to providing resources, specifically those derived from lotteries, to public security in our country. I have seen how often the Prosecutor General, the Minister of Public Security, Raul Jungmann and Wagner Rosário have met to discuss the public security issue in our country.

Therefore, without invading the jurisdiction of the states, to whom the Constitution grants competence over public security... It is the responsibility of the federated states. The fact is that we entered without violating these jurisdictions, that is, we are going to ensure integration and cooperation between the several Brazilian states together with the federal government. This has produced extraordinary results. Of course, many, many times, you expect results immediately. But no, in the government you need to plan today for results tomorrow.

And this control, I should say, of the acts of the public administration, it goes back to the very origin of modern States. If you raise money, and then you spend - and those who spend are not authorities on their own, but rather constituted authorities - you have to have controls, don't you? Therefore, the long-lasting [concept of] control derives from the idea that each power has to limit the activity of the other power. This is the great reality, because uncontrolled power soon degenerates into excesses, into abuses, into agency.

It is not without reason, at the risk of being, let's say, corny... But it's that old phrase used by so many constitutional scholars of politics, that power corrupts, but absolute power corrupts absolutely.

So, in order to ensure this does not happen, there must be control instruments, and particularly, the Court of Auditors, together with the Federal Prosecution Service, with our Ministry of Transparency, does extraordinary work.

That is why, on coming to this meeting, inaugurating this meeting, we are all... President Carreiro, I see with great satisfaction, and recall that in the various meetings in the past when I taught my modest lessons, I held these meetings to discuss great national themes. And I see that your Excellency Justice Augusto Nardes, and all members of the Court of Auditors, come together to discuss the most vibrant and most necessary and contemporary themes, those that are important today and will be important tomorrow.

And by the way - I repeat - I want to say that this, the results of this meeting, will certainly and surely be submitted to the new administration. So, there can be collaboration.

And that is as it should be in Brazil: intense collaboration among all branches of power so that Brazil continues to grow as it has been growing.

I wish you all much success.