The final tally was 367 votes cast in favour of impeachment, versus
137 against, and seven abstentions. Two lawmakers did not show up to
vote.
Brazil's leftist President Dilma Rousseff
suffered a humiliating loss in a crucial impeachment vote in the lower
house of Congress on Sunday and is almost certain to be forced from
office months before the nation hosts the Olympics.
Fireworks lit up the night sky in Brazil's megacities of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro
after the opposition comfortably surpassed the two-thirds majority
needed to send Rousseff for trial in the Senate on charges of
manipulating budget accounts.
The floor of the
lower house was a sea of Brazilian flags and pumping fists as dozens of
lawmakers carried in their arms the deputy who cast the decisive 342nd
vote, after three days of a marathon debate.
The
final tally was 367 votes cast in favour of impeachment, versus 137
against, and seven abstentions. Two lawmakers did not show up to vote.
Brazilian
financial markets were expected to open higher on Monday after the vote
- a major step toward ending 13 years of the left-leaning Workers'
Party rule in the world's ninth largest economy.
If
the Senate now votes by a simple majority in early May to proceed with
the impeachment, as expected, Rousseff would be suspended from her post
and be replaced by Vice President Michel Temer as acting president, pending her trial. Temer would serve out Rousseff's term until 2018 if she is found guilty.
The
impeachment battle, waged during Brazil's worst recession since the
1930s, has divided the country of 200 million people more deeply than at
any time since the end of its military dictatorship in 1985.
It
has also sparked a bitter battle between the 68-year-old Rousseff and
Temer, 75, that could destabilise any future government and plunge
Brazil into months of uncertainty.
Despite anger
at rising unemployment, Rousseff's Workers Party can still rely on
support among millions of working-class Brazilians, who credit its
welfare programs with pulling their families out of poverty during the
past decade.
"The fight is going to continue now in the streets and in the federal Senate," said Jose Guimaraes, the leader of the Workers' Party in the lower house. "We lost because the coup-mongers were stronger."
Opinion
polls suggest more than 60 percent of Brazilians support impeaching
Rousseff, Brazil's first female president, less than two years after she
won reelection in 2014.
While she has not been
accused of corruption, Rousseff's government has been tainted by a vast
graft scandal at state oil company Petrobras and by the economic
recession.
Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators
from both sides took to the streets of towns and cities across the vast
nation, in peaceful protests. Millions watched the congressional vote
live on television in bars and restaurants, in their homes or on giant
screens in the street, as the soccer-mad nation does for major football
matches.
On the grassy esplanade outside Congress,
a 6-foot-high (2-metre) security barrier ran for more than 1 km to
separate rival demonstrations, a symbol of the political rift that has
emerged in one of the world's most unequal societies.
As
the vote came to an end, hundreds of Rousseff supporters sat downcast
on red flags and banners on the grass. A young couple, on the verge of
tears, hugged each other.
On the pro-impeachment
side of the wall, protesters sang and danced, drinking beer and munching
popcorn. Some took selfies and performed handstands, celebrating a
decision that many said was a victory against corruption.
"Impeachment sends a clear message that the politics of this country needs to be cleaned up," said Alesandra Dantas, a 28-year-old social worker.
PARALYSED GOVERNMENT
The
impeachment battle has paralysed the activity of government in
Brasilia, before the Olympics are held in Rio de Janeiro in August and
as it seeks to battle an epidemic of the Zika virus, which has been
linked to birth defects in newborns.
Critics of
the impeachment process say it has become a referendum on Rousseff's
popularity - currently languishing in single digits - which sets a
worrying precedent for ousting unpopular leaders in the future.
They
note that Rousseff - who would be the first Brazilian president
impeached for more than three decades - is accused of a budgetary
sleight of hand commonly employed by many elected officials in Brazil.
With
Brazilians transfixed by the congressional vote, broadcast live on
television, legislators denounced corruption and the economic downturn
as they voted against Rousseff. One fired a popper of confetti into the
air.
But few of them mentioned the budgetary allegations.
However,
business lobbies have thrown their weight behind the ouster of
Rousseff, as they look to Temer to restore business confidence and
growth to the $2 trillion economy.
Adriano Pires,
head of the Rio de Janeiro-based Brazilian Infrastructure Institute,
said the departure of Rousseff could lead to an opening of the country's
crucial oil sector. Union leaders, meanwhile, have voiced fears about
privatisations and job cuts.
Once regarded as an
emerging markets powerhouse, Brazil has been hit by the end of a long
commodities boom and lost its coveted investment grade credit rating in
December.
So far this year, however, Brazil's
stocks and currency have been among the world's best-performing assets
on growing bets that Rousseff would be removed from office, allowing
Temer to adopt more market-friendly policies.
In a
sign that rally could continue, an exchange-traded fund of Brazilian
equities gained 3.8 percent shortly after the result was announced.
While
Rousseff herself has not been personally charged with corruption, many
of the lawmakers who decided her fate on Sunday have been.
Congresso
em Foco, a prominent watchdog group in Brasilia, said more than 300 of
the legislators who voted - well over half the chamber - are under
investigation for corruption, fraud or electoral crimes.
As
they cast their vote, some lawmakers said the next politician to be
impeached should be the man leading the proceedings, Speaker Eduardo
Cunha. He is charged with corruption and money laundering in the
kickback scandal involving Petrobras, and he also faces an ethics
inquiry over undeclared Swiss bank accounts.
"God have pity on this nation," Cunha said as he cast his vote in favor of impeaching Rousseff.
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