Impeachment of Dilma Counts the Support of 48 Senators

08/23/2016 - 12h02

Three days before the start of the final judgement phase of the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, 48 out of 81 senators have publicly declared that they will vote in favor of the definitive removal of the PT party leader.

Although the number is lower than what is necessary for this to take place - two thirds of the Senate, that is, 54 votes -, the tendency today is that the impeachment will be approved. Michel Temer's interim Government sees this result as certain and is counting on 61 votes in favor of the removal of the suspended president.

Although they are in favor of a definitive removal for Rousseff, some legislators don't want to declare themselves openly.

According to Folha's scorecard, nine senators don't want to publicly declare what their final position will be. Of these, however, six voted previously in favor of continuing the process against Rousseff.

The President of the Senate, Renan Calheiros (PMDB-AL), hasn't yet publicly declared, although allies of the PMDB leader have confirmed that he has already indicated that he will vote for Dilma's impeachment in the final stage.

The scorecard also shows that four senators have declared themselves undecided regarding their votes. All of these, however, defended the continuation of the process in the last vote that took place in May.

In the first vote when the Senate decided to initiate the process, the scorecard was 55 to 22. In the second, when the decision to proceed to judgement was approved the number increased: 59 votes in favor and 21 against.

The session that will decide the outcome of Rousseff's impeachment will begin on Thursday (the 25th).

On Monday (the 29th), Dilma will appear personally before the Federal Senate to present her defense.

On Tuesday (the 30th), lawyers for the defense and the prosecution will present final arguments, and afterwards, the 81 senators will be given 10 minutes each to speak.

The expectation is that the senators will finish the voting on Tuesday night or in the early morning on Wednesday (the 31st).

Translated by LLOYD HARDER

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