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Breaking: Brazil’s lower house of congress votes to impeach President Dilma Rousseff Brazil’s lower house of congress votes to impeach President Dilma Rousseff
(35 minutes later)
Breaking: Brazil’s lower house of congress votes to impeach President Dilma Rousseff BRASILIA — President Dilma Rousseff lost a crucial impeachment vote in Brazil’s lower house on Sunday evening, making her removal ever more likely and deepening the country’s political crisis less than four months before the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
BRASILIA — An impeachment showdown in Brazil’s lower house of Congress stretched into Sunday evening, with what appeared to be a critical mass of votes building against President Dilma Rousseff. Rousseff’s opponents easily obtained the two-thirds majority of votes in the 513-member Chamber of Deputies needed to pass the impeachment measure. Voting one by one in a rollicking marathon session broadcast live on television to a rapt Brazilian public, the pro-impeachment lawmakers celebrated wildly on the floor of parliament as they vaulted past the minimum threshold needed to repudiate her.
Rousseff’s opponents said they were confident they had the two-thirds majority needed to impeach her, and they appeared to be in a celebratory mood even before the final tally was complete. “To rescue the hope that was stolen from the Brazilian people, I vote yes,” said Shéridan de Anchieta, one of the many anti-Rousseff lawmakers whose statements brought rowdy applause and jeers to the chamber. One lawmaker fired confetti into the air from a toy pistol after voting to sack the president.
“To rescue the hope that was stolen for the Brazilian people, I vote yes,” said Shéridan de Anchieta, one of the many anti-Rousseff lawmakers whose votes brought wild cheering to the chambers. Another legislator fired confetti into the air from a toy pistol after casting his vote to sack the president. The cascade of votes to boot Rousseff from office less than two years after her reelection was a powerful display of her abject political collapse and the extremes of her unpopularity. Rousseff, 68, is the hand-picked successor of iconic former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and their leftist Workers’ Party once seemed unassailable as it led Brazil through an extended period of prosperity that lifted tens of million out of poverty.
The attempt to oust her has badly divided Brazilian society and produced a deep political crisis, a stunning reversal of fortune for a country where everything seemed to be going right in the years when the Brazilian economy was purring. Sunday’s dramatic vote has left Brazilian society more divided than at any point in recent memory. She and her supporters repeatedly denounced the impeachment attempt as “a coup” tantamount to an interruption of Brazilian democracy, which was restored in 1985 after 21 years of military rule.
Brazilian lawmakers shouted over each other throughout the afternoon and scuffled on the floor of parliament in a rowdy session that unfolded with a circus-like atmosphere on live television. Members of the 513-seat Chamber of Deputies cast their votes one by one, ratcheting up the drama. Yet with Rousseff’s approval rating hovering around 10 percent, Sunday’s vote turned into a visceral repudiation of the 13 years that she and Lula have been in power. It was a stunning reversal of fortune in a country where everything seemed to be going right just a few years earlier when a global commodity boom had the Brazilian economy purring.
Brazil is mired in its worst economic slump since the 1930s. A frightening Zika epidemic continues to spread. And with the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro less than four months away, the country’s leaders are consumed with the political crisis and a sweeping corruption scandal. Now Brazil is mired in its worst economic slump since the 1930s. A frightening Zika epidemic continues to spread. With the country’s leaders consumed by political combat and a broad corruption scandal, Brazil today is a far angrier and more divided country than the one picked in 2009 to host this summer’s Olympics.
Rousseff isn’t accused of stealing, but her opponents say she should be impeached because her administration allegedly tried to cover up budget gaps with funds from government banks. She denies any wrongdoing. The impeachment measure will now move to Brazil’s senate, where only a simple majority is needed to force Rousseff to step down. Senators would have 180 days to conduct formal impeachment hearings before a final vote to determine her fate while Vice President Michel Temer — Rousseff’s former running mate and now rival — assumes temporary control.
The specifics of those charges were barely referred to during Sunday’s proceedings — lawmakers voting for impeachment concentrated on attacking corruption and Rousseff’s economic record in 10-second speeches. Rousseff isn’t accused of stealing, but her opponents said she should be impeached because her administration allegedly tried to cover up budget gaps with money from government banks. She has denied any wrongdoing.
The sight of so many lawmakers lined up against the president only seemed to reinforce the depths of her unpopularity. Rousseff’s approval rating was 13 percent in the most recent poll. The specifics of those charges were barely referred to during Sunday’s proceedings — lawmakers voting for impeachment concentrated on attacking corruption and Rousseff’s economic record in 10-second speeches that were screamed as often as they were spoken.
But many Brazilians unhappy with her are also wary of the lawmakers leading the impeachment push, many of whom are under investigation themselves for corruption, bribery and other misdeeds, including the speaker of the lower house, Eduardo Cunha, who orchestrated the vote. “Lula and Dilma in jail! I vote yes for impeachment,” shouted Soraya Santos, a deputy from the state of Rio de Janeiro.
Said Communist Party deputy Marcivania Flexa, before casting her vote against impeachment: “I have never seen so much hypocrisy.” But many Brazilians unhappy with Rousseff also are wary of the lawmakers leading the impeachment push, more than half of whom are under investigation themselves on suspicion of corruption, bribery and other misdeeds, including Eduardo Cunha, the speaker of the lower house, who orchestrated the vote.
Brian Winter, a Brazil expert and the vice president of the Americas Society and Council of the Americas, said that while Rousseff’s impeachment looked increasingly certain, it was a process from which few winners would emerge. Said Communist Party deputy Marcivania Flexa, before voting against impeachment: “I have never seen so much hypocrisy.”
Brian Winter, a Brazil expert and the vice president of the Americas Society and Council of the Americas, said that Rousseff’s impeachment was a process from which few winners would emerge.
“I worry history may take a dim view of both President Rousseff and this impeachment,” he said.“I worry history may take a dim view of both President Rousseff and this impeachment,” he said.
“Brazil’s economy is in its worst recession in at least 80 years in large part because of mistakes Rousseff made. But it’s hard to see how this impeachment — under dubious circumstances, by a Congress just as unpopular as she is — will lead to solutions in the near term,” Winter said. “Brazil’s economy is in its worst recession in at least 80 years in large part because of mistakes Rousseff made. But it’s hard to see how this impeachment — under dubious circumstances, by a congress just as unpopular as she is — will lead to solutions in the near term,” Winter said.
“Brazil’s economy needs strong leadership to pass a new wave of reforms, pull out of this mess and get back on the path it was on last decade when it dazzled the world,” he added. “In coming weeks, I think you’ll see Rousseff pull out every legal and political means at her disposal to stay in office,” he added. “It’s going to be a messy transitional period of weeks or months, full of protests and polarization. Brazil’s economy needs strong leadership to pass a new wave of reforms, pull out of this mess and get back on the path it was on last decade when it dazzled the world.”
Demonstrators on both sides of Brazil’s political divide held rallies and street protests here and across the country, with Rousseff’s backers denouncing the impeachment drive as a thinly disguised coup. Many followed the voting in Congress on big screens. Demonstrators on both sides of Brazil’s political divide held rallies and street protests here and nationwide Sunday. Many followed the voting in Congress on big screens as if watching a soccer match.
If the impeachment measure passes the lower house, it would require only a simple majority to clear Brazil’s Senate, where Rousseff’s chances for survival are even slimmer. Rousseff would be suspended from the presidency, Vice President Michel Temer would be sworn in, and senators would have 180 days to conduct formal impeachment hearings before a final vote to determine her fate.
More quietly, both sides were furiously lobbying the few dozen lawmakers who had yet to say how they would vote Sunday, lining up support by dangling high-level cabinet jobs and other perks. It’s precisely this sort of backroom deal-making that has left so many Brazilians angry at their leaders, and a throw-the-bums-out national mood does not bode well for Rousseff’s chances.
“We are very certain of victory,” said Antônio Imbassahy, leader of the center-right Brazilian Social Democratic Party. Lawmakers, he said, were “in sync with the feelings of the Brazilian people.”
[Brazil, the rise and fall of a giant][Brazil, the rise and fall of a giant]
During the past two days, the president’s supporters and opponents in Congress have taken turns speaking — and shouting — during televised proceedings that have frequently erupted in rowdy scenes. Rousseff’s supporters waved signs reading, “There will be no coup,” while their partisans spoke, as the other side hoisted placards demanding “Impeachment now.” According to police estimates, the crowd of more than 50,000 impeachment supporters at a rally Sunday outside Congress was twice as large as the anti-impeachment group that marched through Brasilia in Rousseff’s defense.
According to police estimates, the crowd of 40,000 impeachment supporters at a rally Sunday outside Congress was more than twice as large as the anti-impeachment group that marched through Brasilia in Rousseff’s defense.
Those demonstrators have camped out near a soccer stadium here in the capital, many of them from activist groups, unions and left-wing movements that belong to Rousseff’s coalition.Those demonstrators have camped out near a soccer stadium here in the capital, many of them from activist groups, unions and left-wing movements that belong to Rousseff’s coalition.
Maria da Silva, 47, traveled from Maceio, in northeastern Brazil, where she works for the bus drivers trade union. She said the lives of tens of millions of poorer Brazilians like her improved immeasurably under Workers’ Party governments.Maria da Silva, 47, traveled from Maceio, in northeastern Brazil, where she works for the bus drivers trade union. She said the lives of tens of millions of poorer Brazilians like her improved immeasurably under Workers’ Party governments.
“There is more opportunity for the poor,” she said, adding that she had been able to buy her house through a government financing scheme that built low-cost housing. “To take out [Rousseff] and put the others in will be horrible,” she said. “This is a coup.”“There is more opportunity for the poor,” she said, adding that she had been able to buy her house through a government financing scheme that built low-cost housing. “To take out [Rousseff] and put the others in will be horrible,” she said. “This is a coup.”
It’s an emotionally charged term for many in this country, which was under military rule from 1964 to 1985. But those working to remove Rousseff before the end of her second term, in 2018, say this movement is different and entirely democratic. But those working to remove Rousseff before the end of her second term, in 2018, say this movement is different and entirely democratic.
Pro-impeachment demonstrators are camped here in a city park, many wearing the yellow-and-green jerseys of Brazil’s national soccer team. On the whole, they are more middle class and lighter-skinned, reflecting some of the racial and economic undercurrents in the impeachment battle.Pro-impeachment demonstrators are camped here in a city park, many wearing the yellow-and-green jerseys of Brazil’s national soccer team. On the whole, they are more middle class and lighter-skinned, reflecting some of the racial and economic undercurrents in the impeachment battle.
Tiago Medina, 28, was in a group that had traveled from Porto Alegre, in Brazil’s more-prosperous south, a bastion of anti-Rousseff sentiment. He said the pro-impeachment side is made up of people “who defend the values of freedom, with less state intervention in the economy.” Tiago Medina, 28, was in a group that had traveled from Porto Alegre, in Brazil’s more prosperous south, a bastion of anti-Rousseff sentiment. He said the pro-impeachment side is made up of people “who defend the values of freedom, with less state intervention in the economy.”
Medina said their movement is part of the rightward shift across Latin America after more than a decade of dominance by leftist leaders. “We’re standing up for liberal values,” he said.Medina said their movement is part of the rightward shift across Latin America after more than a decade of dominance by leftist leaders. “We’re standing up for liberal values,” he said.
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