BRASILIA (Reuters) - Pro-impeachment lawmakers chanted "Dilma
Out" in the lower house of Brazil's Congress on Friday, as it opened a
raucous three-day debate on whether to impeach President Dilma Rousseff on
charges of breaking budget laws.
Pro-government demonstrators took to the streets in several states amid
fears of violence as the debate began. Major trade unions and landless peasant
movements planned bigger, nationwide protests on Sunday, when the debate is set
to culminate with a vote that Rousseff is widely expected to lose.
The government lost a last-ditch appeal on Thursday before the Supreme
Court to halt the impeachment process, which could bring further instability or
even chaos to Latin America's largest economy after 13 years of rule by the
leftist Workers' Party.
Rousseff is accused of manipulating budget accounts in 2014 to secure her
re-election.
She has strongly rejected the accusation and planned to appeal to
Brazilians in a televised speech on Friday night. But the increasingly isolated
leader canceled the broadcast after an opposition party sought a court
injunction to block it, arguing that she was unfairly using resources of the
Brazilian state to defend herself.
Rousseff is fighting to survive a political storm fueled by Brazil's worst
recession since the Great Depression in the 1930s and a spiraling corruption
scandal that has reached her inner circle.
In a further blow for the president, Minister for Cities Gilberto Kassab
resigned his post late on Friday, according to two sources familiar with
matter. His Brazil Social Democratic Party (PSD) split from the government on
Wednesday and said it would vote for Rousseff's impeachment.
Police stepped up security in the Brazilian capital where a half-mile-long
(1 km) metal fence has been erected on the grass esplanade opposite Congress to
avoid clashes between rival demonstrators expected to turn out by the tens of
thousands over the weekend.
In Rio de Janeiro, police said they plan to form a cordon on the Copacabana
beachfront avenue to separate the pro-impeachment crowd from Rousseff
supporters.
"I am very worried that there will be violence, depending on the
result of the vote and the number of people who gather in Brasilia," said
Congressman Rogerio Rosso, who chaired the lower house committee that backed
Rousseff's impeachment.
The country's top network TV Globo plans to broadcast Sunday's critical
roll-call vote from beginning to end, starting at 2 p.m. (1700 GMT), which
analysts said will add pressure on lawmakers to vote for impeachment.
Polls show that roughly two-thirds of Brazilians support impeachment.
"VIOLENT ACT"
As opposition congressmen called for Rousseff's ouster, Attorney General
José Eduardo Cardozo addressed Congress in her defense, calling the impeachment
process a "violent act with no parallel against democracy."
"History will never forgive those who broke with democracy,"
Cardozo said, as ruling lawmakers shouted: "There won't be a coup."
While the budget violations alleged against Rousseff are serious, she has
not been directly implicated in the kickback scandal engulfing state-run oil
company Petrobras, though her opponents say that bribe money was used to fund
her election campaigns.
The move to impeach her, after months of political deadlock, is widely seen
as a vote of no-confidence in a leader blamed for turning once-booming Brazil
into the worst performer among the world's major economies.
Support for unseating Rousseff has gained momentum in recent weeks, with
the defection of parties from her ruling coalition.
Nineteen of the 25 parties with seats in the lower house now back
impeachment, the Brasilia-based consultancy Arko Advice said on Friday. They
will deliver at least 350 votes and maybe 370, exceeding the two-thirds
majority in the 513-seat house needed to send impeachment to the Senate, it
said.
Former Justice Minister Miguel Reale Jr., a leading supporter of
impeachment, opened Friday's debate by saying the process to oust Rousseff
reflected the will of the people. "She was extremely irresponsible and
knocked out the country," he said.
If her impeachment is approved by the lower house, the Senate must then
vote on whether to go ahead with putting Rousseff on trial for disobeying
budget laws.
If the Senate approved a trial, in a vote that would likely take place on
May 11, Rousseff would automatically be suspended and replaced by Vice
President Michel Temer.
Temer, who would serve out Rousseff's term until 2018 if she is ousted by
the Senate, has little popular support. He would face a daunting task restoring
confidence in a country where dozens of political leaders, including his close
associates, are under investigation for corruption.
Temer is considering the chairman of Goldman Sachs in Brazil, Paulo Leme,
and the founder of asset manager Maua Capital, Luiz Fernando Figueiredo, as
candidates to join his economic team should he take over the presidency in
coming weeks, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday.
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