Brazilian Senate votes to hold Rousseff impeachment trial August 10, 2016 - 11:23 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The Brazilian Senate has voted to hold an impeachment trial of suspended President Dilma Rousseff, who is accused of breaking the budget law, BBC News reports. The senate voted 59 to 21 in favour of going ahead with the trial against Rousseff, which is likely to be held at the end of this month. The Senate suspended Rousseff in May over alleged illegal accounting practices. She says they were common practice under previous administrations. Following a marathon debate that ended early on Wednesday, August 10 the senate easily surpassed the required simple majority needed to decide on whether to try Rousseff. A two-thirds majority is needed in the final vote following the trial, which is due in the week after the Olympics closing ceremony. As the debate got under way on Tuesday, Supreme Court President Ricardo Lewandowski told senators that they were about to "exercise one of the most serious tasks under the constitution". Rousseff has been accused of spending money without congressional approval and taking out unauthorised loans from state banks to boost the national budget ahead of the 2014 election, when she was re-elected. Her allies in the Workers' Party have pointed out that many of the members of the Brazilian congress who have accused her are implicated in corruption cases themselves. Rousseff is not facing corruption charges in Brazil's wide-ranging scandal around the state oil company, Petrobras. But she has been tainted by the scandal, in which her Workers' Party is accused of lining its campaign war chests with some of the missing money. If she is removed from office, the interim president, her former running mate Michel Temer, will remain in the presidential chair until the next elections in 2018. Rousseff has accused him of orchestrating a political coup against her. At the Olympics opening ceremony on Friday, Temer drew boos from the crowds as he declared the games open. There have been various protests against him before the games as well as peaceful protests at a number of Olympic venues. Related links:   Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads.   Partner news |  Latest news Cyprus parliament honors Armenian genocide victims  Acting House President Zacharias Koulias noted that April 24 marks the “black anniversary” of the Armenian genocide.Armenia PM, France envoy discuss regional matters Issues related to the consistent development of Armenia-France cooperation were discussed.Azerbaijan razes historic Armenian church to ground Azerbaijan has demolished the historic Armenian Church of St. John the Baptist (known as Kanach Zham).Russia to begin assessing migrant workers' speaking skills Rosobrnadzor is planning to change the Russian language exam for migrant workers and include an assessment of speaking skills |
