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Brazil Congress’s decision clears way for Rousseff impeachment case vote Rousseff makes last-ditch appeal to supreme court over impeachment vote
(about 5 hours later)
The acting leader of the lower house of Brazil’s Congress has reversed a controversial decision that would have annulled a key vote in the impeachment process against the president, Dilma Rousseff, the interim speaker’s spokesman has said. Dilma Rousseff took her battle to survive impeachment to the supreme court on Tuesday, in a last-ditch attempt to stay in office a day before the senate is expected to vote to try her for breaking budget laws.
Waldir Maranhao’s annulment of the 17 April vote in the chamber of deputies plunged the impeachment process into uncertainty and sowed further discord among Brazil’s fractious political class. Brazil’s attorney general, Eduardo Cardozo, the government’s top lawyer, asked the supreme court to annul impeachment proceedings, his office said.
Maranhao’s first move early on Monday would have annulled the 367-137 vote to oust Rousseff, which sent the matter to the Senate for a possible trial of the president. The head of the Senate vowed to ignore Maranhao’s decision and plough ahead with the process.
Related: A warrior to the end: Dilma Rousseff a sinner and saint in impeachment fightRelated: A warrior to the end: Dilma Rousseff a sinner and saint in impeachment fight
Marahnao’s spokesman Marcos Alberto said the acting speaker reversed the decision just over 12 hours after his initial decision. Earlier in the day, the acting speaker of the lower house of congress withdrew his controversial decision to annul last month’s impeachment vote in the chamber. That meant Cardozo’s appeal to the highest court may be the president’s best hope of stopping the process from moving forward.
Such reversals are a staple of Brazilian politics, and the impeachment process has been filled with such dramatic turns. Eduardo Maranhão, the acting speaker, withdrew his surprise decision on Tuesday, following complaints that it was illegal, clearing the way for a senate vote on Wednesday to go ahead as planned.
The decision clears the way for Wednesday’s vote in the Senate on whether to accept the impeachment case against Rousseff and put her on trial for allegedly breaking fiscal rules in her management of the national budget. If a simple majority of senators decides in favor, Rousseff will be suspended and the vice-president, Michel Temer, will take over until a trial is conducted. If a simple majority agrees to put her on trial, Rousseff will be suspended from office on Thursday, leaving the vice-president, Michel Temer, in power for up to six months during her trial.
The impeachment proceedings come as Brazil is grappling with its worst recession in decades, a continuing corruption investigation that already has ensnared top politicians and prominent businessmen, and an outbreak of the Zika virus. At the same time, the country’s showcase city, Rio de Janeiro, is gearing up to host the Olympics in August. If Rousseff were convicted and removed definitively, Temer would stay in the post until elections in 2018.
Rousseff’s once-overwhelming public support has eroded with the onslaught of bad news, with her approval ratings dipping into the single digits in recent months. While polls have suggested broad public support for her impeachment, they have also pointed to widespread worry about who might replace her. With the prospect looming of an end to 13 years of rule by Rousseff’s leftist Workers’ party (PT), anti-impeachment protesters blocked roads with burning tyres in demonstrations in São Paulo, the capital Brasília and other cities, snarling morning traffic.
Maranhao had argued that the lower house vote last month was riddled with irregularities, including party leaders telling members how to vote. The PT and labor unions have called for a national strike to resist what they call a “coup” against democracy.
Speaking on Monday, Maranhao said the vote was: “We are not, nor will we ever be, joking around with how we make democracy.” “President Dilma is determined to defend the constitution because she was elected by the people and she will appeal to the senate, the supreme court and Brazilian society,” Miguel Rossetto, the labour minister, told reporters.
Rousseff is battling impeachment over allegations that her government violated fiscal rules, in what critics say was a bid to artificially bolster the country’s flagging economy. Rousseff has said that previous presidents used such fiscal manoeuvres and that the impeachment effort amount to a “coup” aimed at removing her and her left-leaning Workers’ party, which has governed the country for 13 years. The legality of Rousseff’s imminent removal from office was questioned by the secretary general of the Organization of American States, Luis Almagro, who said he would seek the legal opinion of the inter-American human rights court.
Rousseff reacted cautiously to Maranhao’s initial announcement, suggesting it wasn’t entirely clear what was happening. “We have a difficult fight ahead of us,” she said at an event about education. She also called for caution, saying that “we live in a time of cunning and wile”. Maranhão’s surprise decision on Monday threw Brazilian markets into disarray and threatened to drag out a painful political crisis with a constitutional standoff that could have ended up at the supreme court.
Maranhao took over the reins in the chamber of deputies after former Speaker Eduardo Cunha, who was the driving force behind the impeachment effort, was suspended over corruption and obstruction of justice allegations against him. Brazil’s currency, the real, strengthened 1% and the benchmark Bovespa stock index rose 2%, reflecting investor hopes that a more market-friendly government will soon take over the recession-hit country under Temer, who is forming a cabinet with pro-business figures.
The head of the Brazilian Order of Attorneys, Claudio Lamachia, said the organisation “regards the decision with extreme worry”. In a statement to the senate, Maranhão did not cite any reason for backtracking on his decision to annul due to “procedural flaws” the lower house’s 17 April vote. The vote had overwhelmingly recommended that the senate try Rousseff.
“This sort of action responds to the momentary interests of certain political groups but ignores legitimate decisions that have already been made,” Lamachia said in a statement. Maranhão, a little-known politician before taking over last week after the removal of Eduardo Cunha for obstruction of a corruption investigation, faces expulsion from his centre-right Progressive party, which supports Rousseff’s impeachment.
The Eurasia Group, a US-based political and economic risk consultancy, said in a statement: “The decision certainly took most observers by surprise, but we think it very unlikely to hold. The senate president, Renan Calheiros, said Monday that Maranhão was “playing with democracy” and vowed the senate would press ahead with Wednesday’s vote. It is expected to take place at about 8pm (2300 GMT) at the end of an all-day session of speeches.
“But one way or another, the supreme court will most likely have to weigh in,” it said. Rousseff’s opponents have more than the 41 votes needed to launch her trial in the upper chamber, and they are confident they can muster two-thirds of the 81 senators, or 54, to unseat the unpopular president at the end of a trial that can last up to six months.
If she loses Wednesday’s vote, Rousseff will be served notice by the senate on Thursday, at which point the suspended president must vacate the presidential palace. She can continue to live in the presidential residence during the trial.
Temer would step in as interim president as soon as she is given notice.
The impeachment process comes as Brazil is mired in its worst recession since the 1930s and shaken by the country’s biggest ever corruption scandal, which have paralysed Rousseff’s second-term administration.
Rousseff has steadfastly denied committing any impeachable crime and has vowed to fight impeachment by all means legally possible. She has dismissed calls for her resignation.
The impeachment process is unfolding as investigators pursue a separate, long-running inquiry into a vast kickback scheme at state-run oil company Petrobras.
“Operation Carwash” has ensnared dozens of top politicians and jailed chief executives from Brazil’s biggest construction firms for paying billions in bribes to lock up bloated building contracts.
The political crisis has hit at a time when Brazil would want to be shining on the world stage, as it prepares to host the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in August.