Demonstrators take part in a protest rejecting the impeachment against Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on May 11, 2016 [Xinhua]The Brazilian Senate has voted to temporarily suspend President Dilma Rousseff from office for 180 days while the process of her impeachment is underway.
Vice President Michel Temer will replace her during the proceedings.
The Senate voted 55-22 to impeach Rousseff on charges she doctored accounts to minimize the size of the budget deficit.
Brazilian Attorney General Eduardo Cardozo said during his defense of Rousseff that Brazil would become the “biggest banana republic on the planet” if the impeachment vote passes.
President Dilma Rousseff is accused of using accounting tricks to hide large budget deficits. Her supporters have said these are flimsy charges and that the proceedings are, in effect, a “coup”.
Thursday’s vote followed a marathon session in the Senate that lasted more than 20 hours.
The pro-impeachment camp gained strength as Rousseff and her finance team failed to reverse a ballooning budget deficit or rekindle growth.
Brazil’s economy, Latin America’s largest, shrank 3.8 per cent last year.
TBP
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