Brazil President Dilma Rousseff's ouster: Speaker tries to annul impeachment vote, then retracts
The leader of the Lower House faced criticism from his party for trying to upend the proceedings a day before the Senate votes on the matter.
Brazil’s Upper House on Wednesday will vote on the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff following days of drama in which the new Speaker of the Lower House first said he would annul its April 18 vote to oust the leader, and then changed his mind less than 24 hours later. Waldir Maranhão on Monday said he would annul the vote to impeach Rousseff, but retracted after facing ridicule and the threat of expulsion from his party.
Rousseff, who is in the middle of her second term as the country’s first woman president, is facing nationwide criticism for corruption and mismanaging the country’s struggling economy. The 81-member Senate’s vote will decide if she will face trial for breaking rules while handling the national budget. If there is a simple majority against her, Vice President Michel Temer will take over till the trial is complete. If she is convicted, he will remain President until the country’s 2018 elections. However, Rousseff has moved the country's Supreme Court in a last-ditch attempt to block impeachment proceedings against her.
On the other hand, some have questioned the grounds for impeachment, saying it is a disingenuous attempt to seize power, as several of the legislators who voted against her are themselves facing criminal corruption charges.