News / Brazil

Brazil court rules in Rousseff’s favor in impeachment row

Friday, 18 December 2015 11:10 AM [ Last Update: Friday, 18 December 2015 12:38 PM ]

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff (Photo by AFP)

Brazil’s Supreme Court has voted in favor of President Dilma Rousseff in a row over impeachment, ruling that the country’s Congress must restart proceedings from scratch.

In an 8-3 decision, the court judges invalidated the opposition-dominated impeachment commission established by secret ballot in the lower house last week and ordered the procedure to be restarted in an open vote.

They also gave the final word on whether to open an impeachment trial to the Senate, where Rousseff has greater support.

The Brazilian president is suspected of violating budget laws to push up spending during her 2014 re-election campaign. She denies the allegation, and says the impeachment is an attempt by her rivals to bring her government down.

The impeachment proceedings against her in Congress had been set up on December 2 by her political rival, Speaker Eduardo Cunha.

Brazilian Congress Speaker Eduardo Cunha (Photo by AFP)

Cunha is himself accused of taking as much as $40 million in bribes in a scandal involving Brazilian oil giant Petrobras. Some observers say the impeachment attempt was orchestrated to distract the public from his case.

The political strife has complicated the situation in Brazil, which is experiencing its worst economic recession in at least 25 years.

Many of Rousseff’s allies are also implicated in a corruption scandal at the state-run oil Petrobras where Rousseff was chairwoman from 2003 to 2010.

Rousseff was re-elected president of Brazil for her second term last year. Her government is now facing many challenges, including high inflation, unemployment, recession and a financial deficit.

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