Marina Silva Defends Idea of Holding New Elections This Year

04/19/2016 - 10h30

In a press conference called on Monday (18) to comment on the approval of President Dilma Rousseff's impeachment in the Lower House, ex-minister Marina Silva (Sustainability Network- Rede) defended the idea that the Electoral Justice should hold new presidential elections this year, alongside municipal elections.

Marina said the impeachment is "not a coup", but stressed that "the best path is the Superior Electoral Court's (TSE), where motions are currently being processed to invalidate the Rousseff and vice-president Michel Temer (PMDB) duo over accusations of having funded campaigns with dirty money.

In her evaluation, the legitimacy of the impeachment was not compromised by Lower House Speaker Eduardo Cunha (PMDB-RJ), currently a defendant in Operation Lava Jato. Silva said that "the Supreme Court provided the case legitimacy".

"There is indeed a crime of responsibility", she said.

"With a due sense of urgency, [the TSE] will invalidate the Rousseff-Temer duo and call for a new election this year, which will follow the structure of the municipal elections which are completely established", she said.

And she concluded: "This is a moment where we need to find a transition, that can be agreed upon, legitimized through a new election. A new election is what will unite the Brazilian people, both those who are in favor of and against impeachment".

In her opinion, a future Temer government "does not have the slightest possibility of providing a way out from the crisis, from my understanding. They had made the mistakes that brought us to the economic, political and ethical crisis together".

Translated by SUGHEY RAMIREZ

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	Renato Costa/Folhapress
	Marina Silva (Rede) defends the idea of holding new presidential elections this year