People in Brasilia read newspaper headlines focused on the impeachment process for President Dilma Rousseff.
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On Sunday, lawmakers in Brazil’s lower house of Congress voted to start impeachment proceedings against her, according to Brazilian news media.
In an emotional first public response to the vote on Sunday, Rousseff said she would not give up now that her case has gone from the lower house to the Senate for a possible trial.
She also condemned the attitude of her Vice President Michel Temer, who would take over the presidency if Rousseff was impeached.
The floor of the lower house was a sea of Brazilian flags and pumping fists as dozens of MPs carried the deputy who cast the decisive 342nd vote – needed for impeachment to succeed – in their arms.
Cheering and confetti burst from Opposition ranks at the 342nd vote, countered by jeering from Ms Rousseff allies – a snapshot of the divisive mood consuming Brazil just four months before Rio de Janeiro hosts the Olympics.
Rousseff’s backers also point out that Temer could face impeachment himself because he backed her policies as vice president, while his PMDB party’s other heavyweights, Cunha and Calheiros, also face corruption allegations.
“I’m not going to cowed; I won’t let myself be paralyzed by this”, Rousseff said, adding: “I have the energy, strength and courage to confront this injustice”.
Ms Rousseff’s Workers’ Party conceded defeat before this threshold was reached, and by the time 342 “Yes” votes had been counted, the pro-impeachment side had a majority of 215 with 38 votes left to be counted. Her popularity has plunged in step with the economy’s slide, and opinion polls suggest most Brazilians support her ouster.
Rousseff’s opponents said she delayed payments to state banks to artificially improve the appearance of public accounts during her 2014 re-election campaign.
The hours-long vote, during which each member of parliament was able to briefly speak to make her or his vote known, was broadcast on major TV networks across Brazil. Within those 180 days the entire Senate will vote on her impeachment, which can be approved with a two-thirds vote.
Rousseff did not rule out the possibility of asking the Congress to bring forward presidential elections, now set for 2018, to later this year. It comes amidst an unfurling corruption scandal centered on the state-run Petrobras oil company that has entangled political and business leaders – though not Rousseff herself.
Other leaders, Rousseff said, have done the same things she did. “I am sure that we will have the opportunity to defend ourselves in the Senate”, she told reporters.
Her vice-president has been implicated in the Petrobras corruption case, while chamber of deputies speaker Eduardo Cunha, who will be Mr Temer’s vice-president, has been charged with taking $5 million (£3.5m) in bribes in the Petrobras scheme.
“But it’s better to take out who is there right now because they are bad for all Brazilians”. Today’s vote will determine whether the impeachment proceeds to the Senate. Calling the proceedings “illegitimate”, she vowed to stand her ground.
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A former Marxist guerrilla, Rousseff had never before held elected office, and critics say her lack of political skills hampered her ability to work with Opposition members in Congress. “Brazil needs a clean slate, otherwise we’re lost”.
