News / Brazil

Brazilians rally against Rouseff impeachment

Monday, 25 April 2016 7:51 AM [ Last Update: Monday, 25 April 2016 7:48 AM ]

Supporters of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff follow on big screens in Sao Paulo, the voting of lawmakers at the Congress in Brasilia on whether the impeachment of Rousseff will move forward, on April 17, 2016. © AFP

Supporters of the embattled Brazilian president, Dilma Rousseff, have staged a fresh demonstration as she is facing possible impeachment within weeks.

On Sunday, hundreds of people gathered in downtown Sao Paulo to organize a bid to resist the impeachment process against Rousseff.

The protesters plan to continue their “occupy democracy” rallies until the Senate votes against the impeachment.

“We are creating three groups, one that will work with social media, one that will work on urban interventions and another one that will be in charge of street occupations in the city,” protester Vania Santos said.

The protester said that Paulista Avenue, where the event took place, “is organizing in groups as part of the movement ‘occupy democracy’. And we are fighting against impeachment process, it is a state coup.”

The Brazilian president suffered a crushing defeat after losing a lower house vote that put her just weeks away from being ejected from office.

The picture taken on April 19, 2016 shows Brazilian President Dil(R) being greeted by women supporters who rallied in front of Planalto Palace in Brasilia. © AFP

On April 17, two-thirds of the 513 delegates in Brazil's lower chamber of Congress voted in favor of impeaching Rousseff, based on allegations that she manipulated fiscal rules in the lead-up to her 2014 reelection.

Brazil’s Senate is expected to vote by no later than May 17 on whether to hold an impeachment trial for the president.

If the Senate votes to accept the case, Vice President Michel Temer will become Brazil’s acting president for a maximum of 180 days until a final verdict is reached.

Recent polls show that over 60 percent of Brazil’s 200 million people back impeaching Rousseff.

The president is also under fire over a graft scandal at the state oil company Petrobras, where she was the manager before taking office as president in 2010.

However, Rousseff has denied the allegations against her as politically-motivated, accusing the opposition of orchestrating a coup.

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