Threats turn to action as Brazil begins impeachment process
After months of tortuous political uncertainty, an impeachment process will begin against Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff. Eduardo Cunha, the speaker of the federal lower chamber of congress and fierce opponent of Rousseff, finally took the plunge on 2 December and went ahead with what he has long threatened. What appears to have pushed Cunha over the edge is the increased likelihood that he himself will be stripped of his post for lying to congress. On the face of it, the impeachment process is unlikely to succeed, but whatever the ultimate outcome the proceedings mean congress will be focused more on Brazil’s political crisis than on its increasingly disastrous economic performance.
Earlier on the fateful day Cunha opted to commence the impeachment process against President Rousseff, three deputies from the ruling left-wing Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT) had indicated they would vote for an inquiry into his behaviour at the ethics committee of the lower chamber. This could have been decisive in persuading him to move.