Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff
lost a crucial impeachment vote in the lower house of Congress on Sunday and
appeared almost certain to be forced from office in a move that would end 13
years of leftist Workers' Party rule.
As thousands of pro- and anti-impeachment
protesters demonstrated outside Congress, the opposition comfortably surpassed
the two-thirds majority needed to send Rousseff for trial in the Senate on
charges of manipulating budget accounts.
The floor of the lower house was a
sea of Brazilian flags and pumping fists as dozens of lawmakers carried the
deputy who cast the decisive 342nd vote in their arms. In Brazil's largest
cities of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, fireworks lit up the night sky and cars
honked their horns in celebration after the vote.
If the Senate now votes by a
simple majority to proceed with the impeachment as expected in early May,
Rousseff would be suspended from her post and be replaced by Vice President
Michel Temer as acting president pending her trial. Temer would serve out
Rousseff's term until 2018 if she is found guilty.
The impeachment battle, waged
during Brazil's worst recession since the 1930s, has divided the country of 200
million people more deeply than at any time since the end of its military
dictatorship in 1985.
It has also sparked a bitter
battle between the 68-year-old Rousseff and Temer, 75, that appears likely to
destabilize any future government and plunge Brazil into months of uncertainty.
Despite anger at rising
unemployment, Rousseff's Workers Party can rely on strong support among
millions of working-class Brazilians, who credit its welfare programs with
pulling their families out of poverty during the past decade.
"The fight is going to
continue now in the streets and in the federal Senate," said Jose
Guimaraes, the leader of the Workers' Party in the lower house. "We lost
because the coup-mongers were stronger."
Opinion polls suggest more than 60
percent of Brazilians support impeaching Rousseff, Brazil's first female
president.
While she has not been accused of
corruption, Rousseff's government has been tainted by a vast graft scandal at
state oil company Petrobras (PETR4.SA) and by the economic recession.
Hundreds of thousands of
demonstrators from both sides took to the streets of towns and cities across
the vast nation. Millions watched the congressional vote live on television in
bars and restaurants, in their homes or on giant screens in the street, like
they would for a big soccer match.
On the grassy esplanade outside
Congress, a 6.5-foot-high (2-metre) security barrier ran for more than 1 km
separating rival demonstrations, a symbol of the political rift that has
emerged in one of the world's most unequal societies.
As the vote came to an end,
hundreds of Rousseff supporters sat downcast on red flags and banners on the
grass. A young couple, on the verge of tears, hugged each other.
On the pro-impeachment side of the
wall, protesters sang and danced, drinking beer and munching popcorn. Some took
selfies and performed handstands, celebrating a decision that many said was a
victory against corruption.
"Impeachment sends a clear
message that the politics of this country needs to be cleaned up," said
Alesandra Dantas, a 28-year-old social worker.
PARALYZED GOVERNMENT
The impeachment battle has
paralyzed the activity of government in Brasilia, just four months before the
country is due to host the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, and as it seeks to
battle an epidemic of the Zika virus, which has been linked to birth defects in
newborns.
Critics of the impeachment process
say it has become a referendum on Rousseff's popularity - currently languishing
in single digits - which sets a worrying precedent for ousting unpopular
leaders in the future.
They note that Rousseff is accused
of a budgetary slight of hand commonly employed by many elected officials in
Brazil.
With Brazilians transfixed by the
congressional vote, broadcast live on television, legislators denounced
corruption and the economic downturn as they voted against Rousseff. But few of
them mentioned the budgetary allegations.
However, business lobbies have
thrown their weight behind the ouster of Rousseff, as they look to Temer to
restore business confidence and growth to the world's ninth largest economy.
Adriano Pires, head of the Rio de
Janeiro-based Brazilian Infrastructure Institute, said the departure of
Rousseff could lead to an opening of the country's crucial oil sector. Union
leaders, however, have voiced fears about privatizations and job cuts.
Once regarded as an emerging
markets powerhouse, Brazil has been hit by the end of a long commodities boom
and lost its coveted investment grade credit rating in December.
Brazil's stocks and currency have
been among the world's best-performing assets in recent weeks on growing bets
that Rousseff would be removed from office, allowing Temer to adopt more
market-friendly policies.
In a sign that rally could
continue, an exchange-traded fund of Brazilian equities (1325.T) gained 3.8 percent shortly after the result was
announced.
While Rousseff herself has not
been personally charged with corruption, many of the lawmakers who decided her
fate on Sunday have been.
Congresso em Foco, a prominent
watchdog group in Brasilia, said more than 300 of the legislators who voted -
well over half the chamber - are under investigation for corruption, fraud or
electoral crimes.
As they cast their vote, some
lawmakers said the next politician to be impeached should be the man leading
the proceedings, Speaker Eduardo Cunha. He is charged with corruption and money
laundering in the kickback scandal involving Petrobras, and he also faces an
ethics inquiry over undeclared Swiss bank accounts.
"God have pity on this
nation," Cunha said as he cast his vote in favor of impeaching Rousseff.
(Additional reporting by Anthony Boadle,
Stephen Eisenhammer and Lisandra Paraguassú in Brasilia, Guillermo Parra-Bernal
in Sao Paulo and Jeb Blount in Rio de Janeiro; Writing by Daniel Flynn, Stephen
Eisenhammer and Anthony Boadle; Editing by Peter Cooney, Kieran Murray and Mary
Milliken)
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