12th May, 2016
After hours of speeches, 41 of the country’s 81 senators said they wanted Rousseff to go to court over charges that she manipulated state funds ahead of her 2014 re-election. If the court finds her guilty, it will impeach her.
The Senate is expected to finalize its vote around 6 a.m. local time. If it decides that Rousseff must stand trial, it will suspend her presidency for up to six months for the relevant legal proceedings to occur, Reuters reported. Such an action would end 13 years of Rousseff’s Workers’ Party rule. Her vice president, Michel Temer, from the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party will govern in her stead.
On Wednesday, Rousseff appealed to the Supreme Court to stop impeachment proceedings but it rejected her request. Now, only the Senate can stop impeachment.
Seventy-one of the 81 senators registered to speak to the house, with each allotted 15 minutes. Once all have spoken, they will vote electronically about the trial.
When the lower house of Congress voted for impeachment proceedings, many of the politicians claimed they did so for God, their family or Brazil, the BBC reported. The Senate, or the upper house, has been more dispassionate. Many have accused Rousseff of poor economic governance. Brazil is in its worst recession since the 1930s.
Rousseff’s supporters, however, say that she is the victim of political maneuvering and that certain politicians are voting for impeachment only to seize power. Rousseff said on Tuesday that regardless of the Senate’s decision, she would not resign.