Brazilian House passes presidential impeach bill amid deep economic slump

Brazilian House passes presidential impeach bill amid deep economic slump. April. 19, 2016 07:34. by 황인찬기자 hic@donga.com.

A bill seeking impeachment of Brazilian President Dilma Vana Rousseff passed the House in the Latin American country on Sunday (local time). This motion jeopardizes the political career of Rousseff, who won reelection in 2014 after becoming the first female president in Brazil’s history in 2010. The leftist administration, which has stayed in power for 13 years, is facing the crisis of possible collapse.

The Brazilian House of Representatives held a vote on the day and passed the bill seeking impeachment President Rousseff. The New York Times reported 367, or more than two third (342) of the 513 Representatives, voted for impeachment and 137 voted against it, with nine abstaining. The bill will be submitted to the Senate, and a Senate vote that will determine whether the Supreme Court will hold trial on her impeachment or not will take place as early as the end of this month.

If half (42) of the 81 Senators approve the bill, an impeachment trial presided over by the Supreme Court chief justice will start. If this happens, the roles and duty of President Rousseff will immediately halt, and Vice President Michel Temer will assume the acting presidency.

President Rousseff is suspected of violating the fiscal account act for borrowing funds from state-run banks in order to fill the federal government’s fiscal deficit ahead of the 2014 presidential election. She also earned backlash for trying to protect former president Lula da Silva, who is embroiled in a corruption scandal. In addition, the country’s inflation surpassed 10 percent last year, aggravating people’s livelihoods.