A Brazilian Senate impeachment committee has voted to put suspended president Dilma Rousseff on trial in the full chamber for breaking budget laws.
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The 21-member committee voted 14-5 to try Rousseff for allegedly manipulating government accounts to allow more public spending in the run-up to her 2014 re-election.
A majority of 41 senators must now approve that same report in a vote on Tuesday to trigger an impeachment trial in the upper house that would likely begin late this month and last between three and five days.
A demonstrator shouts slogans against suspended Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff during a protest demanding her impeachment, on Copacabana beach, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, July 31, 2016.
The committee’s vote clears the way for the initiative to the Senate itself, which is due to decide on it within weeks. “Imagine you’re going to throw a party, you work on it for years, you set it all up, you place the lights, you call the press, and then on the day of the party someone shows up, takes your place and takes over your party”, she said.
This has been Brazil’s worst political crisis in decades, coming to a head as the country prepares to host the Olympic Games in the midst of a severe recession.
The statement is a step backwards in relation to a calendar released at the weekend by the team of the Supreme Court president, Ricardo Lewandowski, who predicted the start of the trial on August 29, which could determine its closure only on September 2.
A large majority of Brasilia watchers expect Rousseff to not survive the final judgment vote, with senators easily reaching the required two-thirds majority, or 54 out of 81 votes. If she is removed from office, he will become the full time president until elections in 2018.
The investigations have already brought down leading figures from all political parties, including the governing Socialist Party, but have not directly touched Rousseff, even though she was minister of energy at the height of the scam.
Brazil’s stock market and currency have strengthened since Rousseff was suspended by the Senate on May 12 as investors bet on her removal and the confirmation of Temer, who has outlined policies favouring private business.
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Rousseff has consistently denied the allegations, claiming they are part of a right-wing conspiracy against her.
