The rapporteur of Brazil’s special Senate committee on impeachment, Antonio Anastasia, recommended Tuesday that Brazilian lawmakers proceeed with an impeachment trial against suspended president Dilma Rousseff and seek her dismissal.
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The trial could proceed as early as Thursday the day before the opening day of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Anastasia, a senator with the conservative Brazilian Social Democracy Party and a fierce critic of suspended President Rousseff, made his recommendation in a report based on witness testimony, review of prosecutors' investigation into allegations of corruption, and arguments made by the deposed president's defense attorneys.
The recommendation contradicts the report presented in June by technicians of the Senate, which states that there is no evidence that Rousseff broke the law in her handling of the public budget.
Rousseff's suspension followed unsubstantiated accusations that she misued government accounts in 2014 for influence-peddling, financing public expenditures in an attempt to win votes ahead of her successful re-election campaign.
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The Workers' Party leader has denied the allegations. According to Rousseff’s attorney Jose Eduardo Cardozo, it will be extremely difficult for the political opposition to uncover evidence of criminal wrongdoing.
If impeached, Rousseff will be permanently removed from her post and the interrim President Michel Temer, who led the Parliamentary coup, will continue to govern until 2018. The final decision will need to be approved by at least 54 of the 81 senators.
Meanwhile thousands of Brazilians have poured into the streets in support of Rousseff, calling for her to return to office. Rousseff has called for a voter referendum on snap election as a way to resolve the political crisis.