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EspañolBrazil’s senate will kick off the trial that will decide the fate of President Dilma Rousseff Thursday, August 25, which will determine whether she will be removed from office or not.
The final decision will come on August 31 if there are no delays. Should she be convicted of violating the constitution by approving finances without informing Congress, she will be removed from office and won’t be able to run again for years.
If she is acquitted, she will recover her mandate, which still has two years and four months remaining.
Several surveys conducted by the Senate indicate she will most likely not be returning. Her detractors are predicted to reach between 58 and 60 votes, exceeding the two-thirds majority of 54 needed to remove her.
Whatever the final outcome, Rousseff will make her closing arguments before the 81 senators on August 29. She has a half hour to convince them of her innocence.
- Read more: Brazilian President Rousseff to Be Probed for Obstruction of Justice
- Read more: Brazilian Senate Opens President Rousseff’s Impeachment Trial
“I will argue not only for democracy and respect for the direct vote of the Brazilian people but also for justice,” she said in a recent press conference.
This hearing will put her face to face with the president of the Supreme Court Ricardo Lewandowski, who since the beginning of his administration has strongly criticized her mandate.
“It will be the last chance to defend herself,” Senator Cássio Cunha Lima said. “For our part there will be respect, but that will also depend on the position the president brings. If it’s aggressive and provocative, there will be a reaction.”
After being suspended last May 12, Rousseff was temporarily replaced by Vice President Michel Temer, head of the center-right party PMDB and a former ally.
Isolated, with very low popularity after the economy fell into its deepest recession in almost a century, Rousseff lost connection with Congress as she watched her party being bombarded by outrageous allegations related to the diversion of funds through Petrobras.
If her fall does happen, Michel Temer will complete the term through the end of 2018.
Source: El Nuevo Herald
