Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff’s allies appealed Thursday to the Supreme Court to dam impeachment proceedings, warning of a political “storm” in Latin America’s largest nation.
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“The opening of the impeachment process was good for the country”, said Mauricio Quintella Lessa, lower house chief of the PR party, which is a member of the ruling coalition.
Cunha in the coming days will give the 29 parties with representatives in the lower house 48 hours to appoint members to a special House commission that will debate the impeachment measure and vote on whether it should go before the full house.
Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff attends a meeting to examine the call for impeachment proceedings that were introduced against her in the lower house, at the Planalto Presidential Palace, in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, Dec. 3…
The lower house president on Wednesday evening announced his decision to accept one of the 34 the requests to impeach the president on charges that range from illegally financing her re- election to doctoring fiscal accounts this year and last.
“Brazil needs tranquility in order to resume economic development, and we are laying out the path to recovery in the forum by discussing alternatives to overcome the crisis”, Freitas said.
“I’m not doing this for political reasons”, Cunha told reporters.
Rousseff later that night said in a televised address that she has done nothing wrong.
The party’s strong stand, coming after a defiant and angry statement from Ms Rousseff late on Wednesday, signalled the start of a political fight that experts say will paralyse a country already suffering from a deepening recession and a spiralling corruption scandal at state oil giant Petrobras.
Cunha is charged with corruption and money laundering for soliciting and receiving bribes from individuals with ties to Brazil’s state-run oil company Petrobras in what is known as the “Lava Jato” (Car Wash) Investigation.
During a press conference held at Congress, Cunha stated that his decision was not politically motivated. Prosecutors allege Cunha has at least $5 million hidden in Swiss bank accounts and it is widely thought he could be arrested.
Analysts said the impeachment proceedings will likely make it out of the commission, but seem unlikely to get the needed two-thirds vote in the full house. Additionally on Thurs., Cunha met with party bash leaders to distribute seats in a 65-member committee in that will advocate whether or not the lower home ought to adjust for allegations made against the president.
“The chances of her opponents impeaching Rousseff are pretty good because she has lost a lot of allies”, said David Fleischer, politics professor emeritus at the University of Brasilia. That could lead to his ouster well before a presidential impeachment process can be concluded.
Although a final impeachment vote by Brazil’s Congress is unlikely before 2016, the move represents the biggest threat yet to the beleaguered president, who has grappled with a stalled economy, demonstrations and historically low approval ratings since being narrowly re-elected a year ago.
Rousseff sharply disputes the accusations – and most analysts at this point think she will survive.
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In addition to the ongoing recession, which deepened to a 4.5 percent contraction on an annual basis last quarter, Brazil is struggling with inflation of more than 10 percent and unemployment at a six-year high. Some investors said they hoped a harsh political reckoning for the left-leaning president would force her to adopt a more market-friendly agenda.
