By Adam Jourdan
SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Brazil's newly-installed president Michel Temer said the Senate's decision to allow former president Dilma Rousseff to maintain her political rights was a "small" embarrassment, and played down its significance to the stability of his government.
Temer was speaking on the sidelines of a business summit in Shanghai, after arriving in China on Friday to attend the G20 leaders' meeting in Hangzhou, his first global event after this week's impeachment of his predecessor, Rousseff.
"For more than 34 years I've been in public life and constantly followed these types of small embarrassments that are quickly overcome," he told reporters.
"From the beginning I have always said I would wait respectfully for the Senate decision. The Senate made that decision, wrongly or rightly, but the Senate made that decision."
Brazil's Senate on Wednesday decided that Rousseff could maintain her political rights, a break with Brazilian law that says a dismissed president should be barred from holding any government job for eight years.
Brazilian assets seesawed after the dismissal, on market fears over division in Temer's alliance following the Senate's vote, which ended 13 years of progressive Workers Party rule.
Rousseff's impeachment also sparked angry reactions from leftist governments across the region. Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador withdrew their ambassadors, and Brazil responded by recalling its envoys for consultations.
Foreign Minister Jose Serra, who was speaking alongside Temer, denied that Rousseff's removal was hurting Brazil's reputation overseas, adding that the impact of the ambassadors' recalls would be felt by their countries.