The vote means Rousseff, who was suspended this year on allegations of breaking budget laws, will likely face trial later this month after the closing ceremonies of the Summer Olympic Games in Rio. The start of the final phase needed only a majority of senators to be present, but 54 of 81 senators will have to vote to convict Ms. Rousseff to remove her from office.
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Brazil’s Senate voted to hold an impeachment trial for suspended President Dilma Rousseff.
The result showed Rousseff had even less support in the Senate since the 55-22 vote to suspend her on May 12.
They blamed Rousseff’s decisions for the current state of the Brazilian economy: Brazil is now facing a recession with no end in sight, and unemployment and inflation are on the rise.
Rousseff has consistently denied any wrongdoing and denounced the impeachment trial as a coup. Wednesday’s vote accepted the committee’s recommendation to put her on trial before the full Senate.
Wednesday’s vote underscored that efforts to remove her may have actually gained steam despite her attempts to woo senators who have expressed doubt about the governing ability of interim President Michel Temer, who was vice president under Rousseff. Nevertheless, her trial will begin on August 25 and if found guilty, she will finally be impeached. If Rousseff is indeed impeached, two-thirds of the Senate will need to confirm it in order for the ruling to go into effect – five votes fewer than those who came out against the president on Wednesday.
“The cards are marked in this game”, said Worker’s Party Sen. The impeachment, he said, was driven by the elite which oppose social welfare gains.
Subsequently, recordings surfaced of Cunha’s political party mate, Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) leader Sergio Machado, discussing Rousseff’s ouster months before proceedings and the recent installation of Temer, as a means to end the corruption probes. Since then, he has been widely criticized for appointing an all-male, all-white cabinet. Executives from the construction giant at the heart of the Petrobras scandal, Odebrecht, told investigators this week that Temer’s Foreign Minister, José Serra, received R$ 23 million (US$ 5.5 million) in illegal funds for his 2010 presidential campaign.
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Senate speaker, Renan Calheiros, mirrored his tone: “I want to emphasize the gravity of the decision that we will soon take”, he said.
