Brazil's Temer defends controversial social security reform

RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazilian President Michel Temer said Monday that he will keep on working to get the social security reform approved, even if Brazilian society opposes it.

In a meeting with coalition leaders, Temer said reforming the social security system is an urgent matter.

"The social security reform is not mine, (it) is not a personal matter, it is a shared subject, of the government. If, in a certain moment, society does not want it, media does not want it, and (also) the parliament, which naturally echoes the voices of the society, so be it. I will keep on working for it, because I am certain of its importance," he said.

The president said the social security reform will be an important ending for a series of reforms his government has launched, and will help curb unemployment and increase government investments.

However, the controversial reform has met with criticism even inside Temer's large coalition, making it harder for it to be approved in a timely fashion, especially this year, as the government hopes.

While the government says the reform will help tackle a huge deficit in the social security system, ensuring that the next generations are able to collect their retirement pensions, the opposition holds that the calculations showing a deficit in the system are fraudulent.