BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil's interim President Michel Temer called on his country to rally behind his government of "national salvation," hours after the Senate voted to suspend and put on trial his leftist predecessor, Dilma Rousseff, for breaking budget laws.

Temer, a 75-year-old centrist, told Brazilians to have "confidence" that Latin America's biggest country would overcome an ongoing crisis marked by a deep economic recession, political volatility and a sprawling corruption scandal.

"It is urgent we calm the nation and unite Brazil," said Temer, after a signing ceremony for his incoming cabinet. "Political parties, leaders, organizations and the Brazilian people will cooperate to pull the country from this grave crisis."

(READ MORE: Heres how Brazils politics descended into chaos. For coverage in Portuguese, visit HuffPost Brasil .)

He charged his new ministers with enacting business-friendly policies while maintaining the popular social programs that were the hallmark of the 13-year administration of the leftist Workers Party.

The change in government marks a dramatic political shift in Brazil, where Rousseff, who has been in office since 2011 and was heading the fourth consecutive term for the Workers Party, was hobbled by the downturn, the corruption scandal and a political opposition determined to oust her.

Temer, a constitutional scholar who spent decades in Brazil's Congress and who had a bitter falling out with Rousseff last year, faces the daunting task of hauling the world's No. 9 economy out of recession and cutting bloated public spending.

He quickly named respected former central bank governor Henrique Meirelles as his finance minister, with a mandate to overhaul the costly pension system.

ROUSSEFF DEFIANT

The Senate deliberated for 20 hours before voting 55-22 early on Thursday to put Rousseff on trial over charges that she disguised the size of the budget deficit to make the economy look healthier in the runup to her 2014 re-election.

Rousseff, 68, was automatically suspended for the duration of the trial, which could be up to six months. Before departing the presidential palace in Brasilia, a defiant Rousseff vowed to fight the charges.