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Dilma Rousseff impeachment: majority of senate say they will vote to suspend president - live Dilma Rousseff: senate votes to impeach Brazil's president - live
(about 1 hour later)
10.48am BST
10:48
Read Jonathan Watts’ full report on Dilma Rousseff’s suspension from office, what one politician called the “saddest day for Brazil’s young democracy”:
Related: Brazil president Dilma Rousseff suspended from office as senate votes to impeach
Less than halfway through her elected mandate, Dilma Rousseff has been stripped of her presidential duties for at least six months after senators voted 55-22 to impeach her and put her on trial.
After what one politician called the “saddest day for Brazil’s young democracy”, a majority of the senators voted after a late-running impeachment debate that they would vote to suspend the Workers’ party leader, putting economic problems, political paralysis and alleged fiscal irregularities ahead of the 54 million votes that put her in office.
Rousseff, Brazil’s first female president, will have to step aside for at least six months while she is tried in the upper house for allegedly manipulating government accounts ahead of the previous election. Her judges will be senators, many of whom are accused of more serious crimes.
10.45am BST
10:45
Here is the latest take from the Associated Press on the voting results, which is seen as a victory for the pro-impeachment camp.
Brazil’s Senate has voted 55-22 to impeach the South American giant’s first woman president.
President Dilma Rousseff is accused of using accounting tricks to hide large budget deficits.
Rousseff will be suspended and replaced for up to six months by Vice President Michel Temer pending a trial in the Senate. The trial will determine whether Rousseff can serve out her second term, or whether her ally-turned-enemy, Temer, will remain in the top job through the December 2018 end of the term.
The result represents a victory for the pro-impeachment camp. It was significantly higher than the simple majority of 41 votes needed to suspend her. It sends a signal that Rousseff faces an uphill battle to return to power.
Thursday’s vote capped a marathon session in the Senate that lasted more than 20 hours.
10.43am BST
10:43
This is the moment the results of the vote were announced, a historic moment in Brazil that brings to end 13 years of rule by the leftist Workers Party.
Com 55 votos SIM - Dilma Rousseff é afastada da Presidência da República. RCN NEWS https://t.co/gHWNKhnIwx pic.twitter.com/WCWFSz2Sb4
10.39am BST
10:39
The charges against Dilma Rousseff will now be investigated in committee for up to 180 days. Vice President Michel Temer will assume power during this period.
Updated
at 10.39am BST
10.36am BST
10:36
Senate votes for suspension of Rousseff
The vote has concluded with 55 votes in favour of suspension and 22 against.
Brazil's Senate has voted to suspend president Dilma Rousseff from office by 55 to 22.
Updated
at 10.38am BST
10.33am BST
10:33
“You can vote now”, the president of the Senate says three times.
And it's actually happening: Brazil impeachment vote in senate. For real, now.
Updated
at 10.34am BST
10.29am BST
10:29
"Cada qual terá que responder na história por sua parte de erros ou acertos", diz presidente do @SenadoFederal #EquipeLídice
10.22am BST
10:22
Cardozo warned Brazil will become the “biggest banana republic on the planet” if impeachment passes.
"A se confirmar o impeachment com essas acusações, o Brasil irá se transformar numa república de bananas", diz Eduardo Cardozo
10.18am BST
10:18
A vote is imminent. You can watch a livestream below:
10.12am BST
10:12
José Eduardo Cardozo defende Dilma. Ato final. Em cerca de 15 minutos os 77 senadores presentes votam o impeachment pic.twitter.com/kp1qIh2uHn
10.10am BST
10:10
Speeches from senators are now over, and the Attorney General Jose Eduardo Cardozo is speaking in defence of Rousseff. The vote is now nearing, with a majority expected to vote in favour of impeachment.
After 20 hours of discussion, 49 senators in favour of impeachment, 20 against. Two undefined.
“There’s no crime of responsibility” says attorney general, Jose Cardozo, for the 1736454th time.
Brazil Attorney General Cardozo now speaking in final defense of #Dilma in senate. He's been 1 of most impressive figures thru this process
Updated
at 10.13am BST
9.17am BST9.17am BST
09:1709:17
What we know so farWhat we know so far
Claire PhippsClaire Phipps
In a session of the Senate in Brasilia now around 20 hours long, senators have been making speeches ahead of a vote that will decide whether President Dilma Rousseff will be suspended from her role.In a session of the Senate in Brasilia now around 20 hours long, senators have been making speeches ahead of a vote that will decide whether President Dilma Rousseff will be suspended from her role.
I’m now handing over the live blog to my colleague Nadia Khomami in London, who’ll continue to bring you updates through the official vote and beyond. Thanks for reading.I’m now handing over the live blog to my colleague Nadia Khomami in London, who’ll continue to bring you updates through the official vote and beyond. Thanks for reading.
UpdatedUpdated
at 9.22am BSTat 9.22am BST
9.03am BST9.03am BST
09:0309:03
Jonathan WattsJonathan Watts
Less than halfway through her elected mandate, Dilma Rousseff appears set to be stripped of her presidential duties for at least six months after a majority of senators said they would vote to impeach her and put her on trial.Less than halfway through her elected mandate, Dilma Rousseff appears set to be stripped of her presidential duties for at least six months after a majority of senators said they would vote to impeach her and put her on trial.
After what one politician called the “saddest night for Brazil’s young democracy”, more than half of the 81 senators declared in a late-running impeachment debate that they would vote to suspend the Workers’ party leader, putting economic problems, political paralysis and alleged fiscal irregularities ahead of the 54 million votes that put her in office.After what one politician called the “saddest night for Brazil’s young democracy”, more than half of the 81 senators declared in a late-running impeachment debate that they would vote to suspend the Workers’ party leader, putting economic problems, political paralysis and alleged fiscal irregularities ahead of the 54 million votes that put her in office.
A formal vote is expected in the next few hours.A formal vote is expected in the next few hours.
If all the senators vote as they have indicated, Rousseff, Brazil’s first female president, will have to step aside for at least six months while she is tried in the upper house for allegedly manipulating government accounts ahead of the previous election. Her judges will be senators, many of whom are accused of more serious crimes.If all the senators vote as they have indicated, Rousseff, Brazil’s first female president, will have to step aside for at least six months while she is tried in the upper house for allegedly manipulating government accounts ahead of the previous election. Her judges will be senators, many of whom are accused of more serious crimes.
Read more here:Read more here:
Related: Brazil president Dilma Rousseff set to be impeached in senate voteRelated: Brazil president Dilma Rousseff set to be impeached in senate vote
8.51am BST8.51am BST
08:5108:51
Senator Cássio Cunha Lima tweets that he now expects the vote to take place at 7am local time (11am BST/8pm AEST/6am EDT) – more than 20 hours after the senate session started:Senator Cássio Cunha Lima tweets that he now expects the vote to take place at 7am local time (11am BST/8pm AEST/6am EDT) – more than 20 hours after the senate session started:
A sessão prossegue. Creio que a votação ocorrerá após às 7h. https://t.co/EgVzPlzGubA sessão prossegue. Creio que a votação ocorrerá após às 7h. https://t.co/EgVzPlzGub
8.47am BST
08:47
Latest tally of how senators have declared they will vote:
8.41am BST
08:41
Senator Humberto Costa, of Rousseff’s Workers’ party, speaks now.
He says the impeachment is a means for those defeated in the 2014 general election to get their hands on power, usurping the votes of regular Brazilians.
The president is not a criminal, he tells the senate, waving a photograph of a younger Rousseff.
Updated
at 8.41am BST
8.23am BST
08:23
Senator José Serra is up now. He’s likely to become a minister if/when Temer steps up to the presidency. Serra tells the senate that to continue with Rousseff as president would be a bigger tragedy than impeachment.
Impeachment isn’t an exceptional event, he says, but a constitutional solution:
Senador @joseserra_: "O impeachment não é uma medida de exceção. É uma solução constitucional."
8.14am BST
08:14
The 62nd senator to speak, Walter Pinheiro, is now at the lectern.
Some 71 senators are due to make speeches ahead of the vote. At 15 minutes each – the limit – we would still be more than two hours away from a formal result.
8.09am BST
08:09
Why is this happening?
For those joining our coverage 18 hours into the senate session (this is not a joke), here’s a helpful recap via Reuters:
President Dilma Rousseff, who has been in office since 2011, has seen her popularity crushed by Brazil’s worst recession since the 1930s and a two-year probe into a vast kickback scheme at state-run oil company Petrobras.
Rousseff was chairwoman of Petrobras when much of the graft occurred, but she has not been accused of corruption.
She stands charged with manipulating government accounts to disguise the size of Brazil’s fiscal deficit to allow her to boost public spending during her 2014 re-election campaign, a practice also employed by previous presidents.
The political crisis has deepened Brazil’s recession and comes at a time when Brazil hoped to be shining on the world stage as it prepares to host the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in August.
Opposition senators blamed Rousseff for running into the ground an economy now considered the worst performing among major developing nations, pursuing what they called populist policies that led to high inflation, recession and unemployment.
Rousseff has denied committing any crime that warrants impeachment charges. She has called her impeachment a coup and vowed to fight the process until the last minute.
7.48am BST
07:48
Jonathan Watts
I’m resurfacing this eye-opening read from the Guardian’s Latin America correspondent, Jon Watts, which spells out the rocky road ahead:
If the suspension of Rousseff goes ahead – as it now looks set to – the presidential line of succession will have been decimated in the past week, with possibly more to come.
Normally, this is how it looks:
But here’s the situation today:
In conclusion: two of the five are likely to be suspended by Thursday, another two are under investigation, and the final potential successor is an unelected judge who is about to be replaced.
I’d guess the odds on Lucia, who is not even in the frame right now, becoming president by the end of the year might be shorter than those last August for Leicester winning the Premiership.
7.37am BST
07:37
What happens next?
Senators must still vote formally on the move to impeach Rousseff.
Thursday
Within 180 days
7.21am BST
07:21
Majority of senators say they will vote for impeachment
Senator Blairo Maggi is the 58th senator to speak and the 41st to declare he will vote in favour of impeachment.
Assuming senators vote later as they have said they will, Dilma Rousseff will be suspended from office for 180 days while congress decides if she will be permanently ousted.
Bancada petista assiste a discurso de Blairo, o 41 pelo afastamento de Dilma. pic.twitter.com/ByTKUwCBaz
7.14am BST
07:14
Brazilian TV network Globo reports that three senators are not expected to vote today.
Two – Eduardo Braga and Jader Barbalho – are on sick leave, it says, and another, Pedro Chaves dos Santos, has not yet taken office.
This would leave 78 senators available to vote on the impeachment process – in which case, the 40 senators who have so far said they will vote in favour would be enough to secure Rousseff’s suspension.
7.07am BST
07:07
Forty senators have now declared that they intend to vote for the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff.
In a full senate of 81, just one more vote would be needed to secure her suspension. Not all senators have attended the session so far.