10th May, 2016
Waldir Maranhao, the interim speaker of Brazil’s lower house of Congress, on Tuesday has said that he has reversed a decision to annul the impeachment of the Brazilian President, Dilma Rousseff.
While speaking in a statement, Waldir Maranhao said he “reversed the decision” on Monday.
According to Brazilian media reports, this was done to cancel the April vote by the lawmakers that launched the process, a formality that clears the way for Rousseff’s impeachment to go ahead.
Waldir’s move comes after Senate president Renan Calheiros on Monday dismissed Maranhao’s annulment, saying the Senate would still go ahead with the impeachment.
Rousseff faces being suspended from office if the Senate votes — as this now appears likely — to open an impeachment trial at the session which is slated to start on Wednesday.
However, in a stunning twist of events on Monday, Maranhao declared that the whole process was flawed and should be brought back to square one.
According to Maranhao, the original vote by the lower house deputies sending Rousseff to face the Senate had “prejudged” the president and denied her “the right to a full defense”.
Source: AFP