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| President Dilma Rouseff |
Brazil's Supreme Court voted
early today to reject a motion seeking to block an impeachment vote in the
lower house of Congress against President Dilma Rousseff, sharply limiting the
embattled leader's options to avoid a showdown with legislators who want to
oust her.
Rousseff has lost support of key allies this week and is now even closer to a major defeat that would weaken an already struggling administration dealing with problems on many fronts: the worst recession in decades, a sprawling scandal at state oil company Petrobras and an outbreak of the Zika virus, which can cause devastating birth defects.
Rousseff has lost support of key allies this week and is now even closer to a major defeat that would weaken an already struggling administration dealing with problems on many fronts: the worst recession in decades, a sprawling scandal at state oil company Petrobras and an outbreak of the Zika virus, which can cause devastating birth defects.
Justices voted 8-2 to deny
Rousseff's appeal, saying it wasn't their role to get involved at this stage of
the process, which the top legal official in Rousseff's government called
"contaminated." The majority of judges argued the lower house's role
in impeachment proceedings is to consider whether to accept accusations against
Rousseff and if it does so, the Senate will have a trial to fully examine them.
The only good news for the Rousseff in the special session that ran past seven hours was a statement by Chief Justice Ricardo Lewandowski suggesting that in the future the court could again look at the impeachment proceedings.
The only good news for the Rousseff in the special session that ran past seven hours was a statement by Chief Justice Ricardo Lewandowski suggesting that in the future the court could again look at the impeachment proceedings.