Senate Expected to Suspend Rousseff From Office in Vote Today

05/11/2016 - 09h00

The Senate is expected to open the impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff, suspending her from the office, in a meeting that starts on Wednesday (11) morning.

The decision needs a simple majority vote of those present, and both Folha's score and the government and opposition accounts point to this result.

Rousseff's suspension is limited to 180 days, but the Senate is expected to judge her for using funds from state banks to cover budget shortfalls and for budget credits without authorization before that.

Vice-President Michel Temer (PMDB) will take office once he is notified of the decision. His allies are pushing for the exit of the interim Lower House speaker, Waldir Maranhão (PP-MA), seen as unreliable to direct his congressional agenda and who tried, unsuccessfully, to cancel the Lower House vote on the impeachment at a stroke of a pen with the support of the Planalto Palace.

Faced with a predictable scenario of defeat, the government base works with an optimistic account, trying to get 30 votes against the impeachment of the total of 81 senators, while the opposition estimates up to 57 votes for the impeachment.

Besides suspending Rousseff from the office, the voting score of Wednesday will indicate the trend for the final phase of the process, which requires 54 votes to condemn Rousseff, causing her to leave office permanently.

Rousseff is accused of promulgating additional credits decrees without the approval of the Congress and using funds from state-run banks in Treasury programs, the so-called "fiscal pedaling." Her defense maintains that there are no elements to oust her.

Aware of the virtually irreversible political scene, the government seeks the path of the judicialization of the case.

On Tuesday (10), the Attorney General's Office (AGU, in its Portuguese acronym) appealed to the Supreme Court (STF, in its Portuguese acronym) with an injunction to annul the impeachment process. Justice Teori Zavascki will be the rapporteur in the case.

Translated by MARINA DELLA VALLE

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	Pedro Ladeira/Folhapress
	Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff attends the opening of the National Conference of Women, in Brasilia