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Opinion: President Rousseff Running Risk of a de facto Resignation

04/09/2015 - 09h48

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VERA MAGALHÃES
FROM SÃO PAULO

On Sunday, once again, hundreds of thousands of people are promising to take to the streets all over the country to chant "Dilma out!" While the basis for President Rousseff's impeachment has yet to emerge, every day she seems to renounce a little more of her responsibilities and prerogatives.

At the beginning of her second term, Rousseff gave finance minister Joaquim Levy full reign to conduct a drastic fiscal adjustment, reversing much of her economic policy during her first time. Now she has appointed Vice-President Michel Temer as her lead negotiator with Congress.

The same is happening in the choice of a new Supreme Court judge, a position which has, incredibly, been vacant now for eight months. Rousseff currently has neither the autonomy nor the confidence to choose the person she considers the best candidate for a seat at nation's highest court.

Rousseff's candidate is likely to have to satisfy the following humiliating criteria: 1) have no affiliation with the governing Workers' Party (PT); 2) have the approval of Senate president Renan Calheiros; 3) to consider the wishes of the other Supreme Court judges, and 4) not to cause conflict in the Superior Court of Justice, where the candidate will be chosen at the expense of six others.

It is almost impossible to satisfy all four criteria, and they are a sure sign that Rousseff is walking dangerously close to a de facto resignation.

The PT's greatest fear is that Rousseff abdicates the presidency without the opposition, the populace or the PMDB having to impeach her. It is urgent that she recover her personal authority and the support of at least some sectors in society, as the appointments of Levy and Temer will not guarantee the success of her mandate.

Translated by TOM GATEHOUSE

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