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News > Latin America

Brazilian Unions Slam Impeachment Proceedings Against Rousseff

  • Eduardo Cunha, the speaker of the lower house of Congress, triggered the impeachment process against Rousseff.

    Eduardo Cunha, the speaker of the lower house of Congress, triggered the impeachment process against Rousseff. | Photo: AFP

Published 3 December 2015
Opinion

Members of Brazil’s largest labor union gathered on Thursday to criticize the impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff. 

Representatives from the Brazilian labor movement convened in Sao Paulo on Thursday to discuss the country’s ongoing economic and political tensions. During the event, officials called on all Brazilian lawmakers to overcome their political differences in order to revive the country’s struggling economy.

“Brazil needs tranquility in order to resume economic development and we are laying out the path to recovery in the forum by discussing alternatives to overcome the crisis," Vagner Freitas, president of Brazil's largest labor union the CUT, said.

The event takes place after Eduardo Cunha, speaker of the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies decided on Wednesday to go ahead with impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff on grounds that she illegally manipulated government accounts.

Freitas went on to add that the impeachment proceedings ignited by Cunha are an “act of despair”, referring to the current legal investigation linking him to a massive corruption scandal involving the state-owned oil company Petrobras.

ANALYSIS: Brazil: Understanding the Latest Efforts at Ousting Rousseff

"Brazil can not remain at the mercy of Mr. Eduardo Cunha, who no longer has political or moral authority to continue in office," Freitas stated.

Cunha's decision to begin impeachment proceedings is being widely interpreted as a smokescreen strategy to escape his own legal and political problems, who is currently facing pressure to resign due to allegations that he lied to the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry about his assets, claiming he did not have any foreign bank accounts.

RELATED: Brazil's Rousseff Undaunted in the Face of Possible Impeachment

​​"I think this is a move to distract people away from his questionable activities, which are currently being reviewed,” Secretary General of the CUT Sergio Nobre stated.

Brazilian lawmaker Wadih Damous, along with legislators from the ruling PT party, issued similar sentiments Thursday during a legal appeal to the Brazilian Supreme Court with the aim of nullifying Cunha’s impeachment proceedings against the country’s head-of-state.

“The current injunction uses impeachment as a strategy to shift the focus of public opinion away from the current legal investigations indicted by the Supreme Court,” Damous said on Thursday during a legal appeal to the Supreme Court.

The PT lawmakers issued their appeal to the Supreme Court charging Cunha with "abuse of power and using the legislative power structure to defend himself."

A decision is expected to be handed down in the coming days.

Meanwhile, Cunha is due to formally announce on Thursday the first step in the long impeachment procedure, which involves the creation of a 66-strong person committee will then decide whether the case should go to a vote in the full house.

​If a two-thirds majority approves, it then goes to the upper house for an impeachment trial, where another two-thirds majority would force Rousseff from office.

WATCH: Cunha to Be Investigated for Corruption

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