Brazil Senate Begins Impeachment Process Against Rousseff

The Brazilian Senate began the voting procedure Monday afternoon to determine the makeup of the special committee that will review the impeachment request passed on by the lower house of Congress last week as President Dilma Rousseff’s fate remains in limbo while the final decision to begin the procedures to oust her are approved.

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Once set up, the committee will have 10 working days to debate the impeachment process and vote on the issue, passing the question on for a larger vote in the Senate if it achieves a simple majority in the committee.

The 21-member committee will be headed by a representative of the PMDB, the party that broke with Rousseff’s ruling Workers’ Party last month in a move that locked in support for the impeachment effort headed by PMDB lower house speaker Eduardo Cunha. Five committee members will be from the PMDB as a reflection of their overall representation.

The lower house passed the impeachment process vote with a two-thirds majority on April 17, moving Rousseff one step closer to being suspended from office.

According to the “Map of Democracy” organized by groups against the impeachment attempt, the vote in the 81-seat Senate is already on track to pass with a simple majority with 45 members currently supporting the impeachment bid, 19 against, and 17 undecided.

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Impeachment in Brazil

If the Senate approves the process, Rousseff will be suspended from office during an investigation that will ultimately decide whether she is impeached. Vice President Michel Temer, embroiled in corruption scandals and facing possible impeachment, will take over from Rousseff in the case of temporary or permanent suspension.

The vote in the Senate is expected to be finalized late next month.

Many analysts have argued that the supposed campaign to root out corruption is a pretext to seize power that conservative forces have not been able to win in elections and to shield highly corrupt politicians, including Temer and Cunha, from facing charges.