In a long drawn out battle against the leader of the governing party, holding the highest public office, the opposition in Brazil has secured a primitive victory by voting to begin the impeachment proceedings against the President of Brazil, Ms. Dilma Rousseff, on charges of tampering with government accounts to hide the growing deficit. Out of 513 members in the Lower House, the move secured 367 votes, moving beyond the half-mark of 342 needed for its transfer to the Upper House, while 167 MPs voted against it. Seven deputies abstained from voting and two others were absent during the session.
With the victory, the Opposition has ensured that the case will now move to the Upper House, the Senate, for deliberation. During the formal trial and other procedures, the Senate is expected to suspend Ms. Rousseff from office and if found guilty, will be permanently dismissed from government. Ms. Rousseff has consistently denied the charges and has even gone so far as to accuse the opposition of designing a ‘coup’; her Worker’s Party has assured of a continued fight in the Senate. Ms. Rousseff will have two chances to appeal during the entire trial.
The voting session was broadcast live for the public and began with anti-impeachment MP Afonso Florence of the Worker’s Party earnestly encouraged the MPs to use a ‘democratic conscience’, at the same time hitting out at representatives of the opposition. Meanwhile, a representative of the opposing party PSDB, Antonio Imbassahy, asked the executive to “choose the country that we want from now on”, and added that Brazil needed “moral reconstruction.”
Thousands of citizens watched the voting process on massive public screens with Ms. Rousseff’s supporters dressed in red and others dressed in yellow and green. The anti-Rousseff groups were already celebrating before the vote was established, said witnesses. Nearly 25,000 people watched the vote from right outside the Congress building, kept away from causing disturbance withing the building by walls of height 2 m, stretching around the building for almost 1 km.
Although the protest as well as the celebrations have been largely peaceful, there is a growing lack of popularity of the Brazilian premier amongst her citizens, not only because of this case but of the overall failing health of the economy. In addition, a number of prominent opposition leaders are also facing corruption charges and Ms. Rousseff has used this as a way to fight back for long. Accused of altering government books to overshadow poor economic progress under her government prior to the elections held two years ago, Ms. Rousseff said recently that the opposition desires to “convict an innocent woman and save the corrupt”.
If found guilty, Vice-President Michel Temer will take over the reigns from President Rousseff temporarily. however, he too is facing charges in the same case. Next in line would be Lower House Speaker Eduardo Cunha and then Senate head Renan Calheiros, both of whom are also allegated in massive corruption scandals. All three of these leaders are of the PMDB, a recently made coaltion for the impeachment proceedings and they have all been accused by Ms. Rousseff of leading the attempts to ‘oust’ her from power. They all deny their involvement in their respective scandals.
With inputs from BBC
Tags: America Dilma Rousseff Senate White House
