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Brazil crisis: Rousseff loses lower house impeachment vote Brazil crisis: Rousseff loses lower house impeachment vote
(about 1 hour later)
Brazil's lower house has voted to start impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff over charges of manipulating government accounts.Brazil's lower house has voted to start impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff over charges of manipulating government accounts.
The "yes" camp comfortably won the required two-thirds majority, after a lengthy session in the capital.The "yes" camp comfortably won the required two-thirds majority, after a lengthy session in the capital.
The motion will now go to the upper house, the Senate, which is expected to suspend Ms Rousseff next month while it carries out a formal trial.The motion will now go to the upper house, the Senate, which is expected to suspend Ms Rousseff next month while it carries out a formal trial.
She denies tampering with the accounts to help secure her re-election in 2014.She denies tampering with the accounts to help secure her re-election in 2014.
The ruling Workers' Party has promised to continue its fight to defend her "in the streets and in the Senate". Her supporters describe the vote as a "coup against democracy" and the ruling Workers' Party has promised to continue its fight to defend her "in the streets and in the Senate".
Trumpets and vuvuzelas But Ms Rousseff is an unpopular leader in a country facing a severe economic crisis, the BBC's Wyre Davis reports from Brazil.
Ms Rousseff's opponents secured 367 votes in the lower house - exceeding the 342-vote mark needed to send the motion to the Senate. How big was the blow?
The "no" camp secured 167 votes, while seven other deputies abstained. Two deputies were not present during the voting. Impeachment supporters netted 367 votes in the lower house of Congress, well above the 342 they needed.
Voting began after passionate statements from MPs and party leaders in a session broadcast live on television as well as on large screens in city centres. The "no" camp took 137 votes, seven deputies abstained and two did not show for the ballot.
Defending Ms Rousseff, Afonso Florence of the Workers' Party urged MPs to have a "democratic conscience".Defending Ms Rousseff, Afonso Florence of the Workers' Party urged MPs to have a "democratic conscience".
A pro-impeachment MP, Antonio Imbassahy of the PSDB party, told lawmakers to "choose the country that we want from now on", and said Brazil needed "moral reconstruction." A pro-impeachment MP, Antonio Imbassahy of the PSDB party, called for Brazil's "moral reconstruction."
If the Senate votes for impeachment, Ms Rousseff will be put on trial in the upper chamber and will be removed from office permanently if found guilty. She has two opportunities to appeal during the whole process. Victory came loud and colourful as hundreds of thousands of demonstrators were watching the vote live on huge TV screens on city streets across the country.
Hundreds of thousands of protesters watched the voting marathon on huge TV screens in cities across the country - Ms Rousseff's supporters wearing red and her opponents wearing the green and yellow of the Brazilian flag. Rousseff opponents, who turned out in fancy dress, and the green and yellow of the national flag, partied to music, blowing trumpets and vuvuzelas.
Some 25,000 protesters from both sides were outside the Congress building - separated by a makeshift 2m (6.5ft) high metal wall, that stretches for 1km (0.6 miles). It was a humiliating moment for Brazil's first woman president.
The "yes" camp burst into celebrations even before the two-thirds of the votes had been secured. What comes next?
The atmosphere has so far been peaceful and almost festive with music, fancy dress and people blowing trumpets and vuvuzelas. Early next month, the Senate will vote on whether to put the president on trial.
"We fought a lot to sack this corrupt government, which destroyed our industry, jobs and left chaos in all social classes," Marisa Cardamone, a 75-year-old lawyer, told AFP news agency in the country's financial centre, Sao Paulo. If the vote passes, she will be suspended and replaced by her Vice-President, Michel Temer.
"I'm happy because I think Dilma had to go but I'm also both sad that it came to this and also really worried that the next president could be even worse,'' Patricia Santos, a 52-year-old small business owner among the demonstrators outside Congress, told the Associated Press news agency. The actual Senate trial could last up to six months.
'The putschists won' If two-thirds of senators vote to impeach, Dilma Rousseff is out of office for good.
The president, 68, has vigorously denied any wrongdoing, and on Saturday wrote in one newspaper (in Portuguese) her opponents wanted to "convict an innocent woman and save the corrupt". However, she would have two chances to appeal.
The BBC's Wyre Davis in Brazil says Ms Rousseff is an unpopular leader in a country facing a severe economic crisis. What is Rousseff accused of doing?
But her supporters say many of the congressmen who are sitting in judgement have been accused of crimes too Brazilian governments are required to meet budget surplus targets set in Congress, which investors regard as a measure of economic health.
All three are from the PMDB - the largest party in the coalition, which abandoned Ms Rousseff in recent weeks to support the impeachment. They deny the allegations against them. Ms Rousseff is accused of allowing creative accounting techniques involving loans from public banks to the treasury, which artificially enhanced the budget surplus.
The Workers' Party leader in the lower house, Jose Guimaraes, acknowledged "the putschists" had won in the Chamber of Deputies but said the fight would go on in the Senate. She argues that she did nothing criminal, saying many other presidents, mayors and state governors had used the same creative accounting techniques and had never been punished for it.
"We don't back down and we aren't going to let ourselves be beat by this momentary loss," he said. But her opponents in the streets during Sunday's vote were unforgiving.
Luciano Dias, a Brasilia-based political consultant, summed up what he saw as Ms Rousseff's errors in office: "She took too many resources from the private sector, she was arrogant with Congress for a long time and her economic policies were just wrong." "We fought a lot to sack this corrupt government, which destroyed our industry, jobs and left chaos in all social classes," demonstrator Marisa Cardamone, 75, told AFP news agency in the Brazil's financial centre, Sao Paulo.
Why is she so unpopular?
Today Dilma Rousseff presents a sorry contrast to her popular predecessor and mentor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, whom she succeeded in 2011.
Political consultant Luciano Dias identified three main mistakes she made in office, when he spoke to the Associated Press news agency.
"She took too many resources from the private sector, she was arrogant with Congress for a long time and her economic policies were just wrong," he said.
Ironically, however, even her opponents tend to acknowledge her reputation as an honest politician in a political world mired by corruption investigations.
Who are the alternatives?
Many of the congressmen sitting in judgement have been accused of crimes too:
All three are from the PMDB - the largest party in the coalition, which abandoned Ms Rousseff to support the impeachment. They deny the allegations against them.
"I'm happy because I think Dilma had to go but I'm also both sad that it came to this and also really worried that the next president could be even worse,'' Patricia Santos, a 52-year-old small business owner among the demonstrators outside Congress, told AP.
Are these dangerous days for Brazil?
There is no suggestion that the fight promised by the Workers' Party "in the streets and in the Senate" will be anything but political, though Brazilians are certainly bitterly divided.
Passions are so high on both sides that the authorities erected a makeshift 2m (6.5ft) high metal wall, stretching for 1km (0.6 miles), to keep thousands of rival demonstrators apart outside Congress in Brasilia.
Ms Rousseff and her allies have accused their opponents of mounting a coup.
"This fascist congress wants to lead a coup d'etat against Brazil's democracy but they will not succeed," one protester told AP.
Are the Olympics likely to be affected?
Olympics chiefs say preparations for the Games in Rio this August are on track.
"We have been moving forward with our ongoing work despite the complex environment politically and economically," said Nawal El Moutawakel, who heads the International Olympic Committee's coordination commission.
"This is not creating an impact on the Games as we have been delivering on time," he was quoted as saying by AFP a few days before the impeachment vote.