The Brazilian President is Led to Impeachment for Corruption


10/08/2015

On Wednesday, the Federal Court of Accounts of Brazil said that the financial statements of the government of the country in 2014, including the preparation for re-election and obtaining unauthorized loans from state banks to cover the budget deficit, are untenable. This solution allows starting the Parliament impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff.



The Federal Court of Accounts of Brazil unanimously ruled yesterday that in 2014, the government of President Dilma Rousseff unlawfully manipulated their accounts to cover the growing fiscal deficit in the period of re-election campaign. According to the court, the government was taking unauthorized loans from state banks and using those funds to cover the deficit budget.

This is the first time in the last 80 years when the Federal Court of Accounts of Brazil makes a decision with respect to the current president. Although it is not legally binding, it gives the opportunity to initiate a parliamentary impeachment proceedings against the president. "They falsified financial statements. It is an administrative offense, and proceedings impeachment against President Rousseff may begin ", - told leader of the opposition Brazilian Social Democracy Party in the lower house of parliament Carlos Sampaio to Reuters. Member of the Congress of the Socialist People's Party of Brazilian Rubens Bueno said: «This is the end of Rousseff’s government." He added that the opposition has enough votes in the lower house to begin impeachment proceedings, yet two-thirds majority, not available now, is needed to carry out this procedure through the Senate.

The administration of President Dilma Rousseff commented on the decision of the Federal Court trial, stating that it has no legal basis. According to the administration, the court just tried to punish the Workers' Party, which member Mrs. Rousseff is, for measures to support the social programs for the poor in Brazil. The administration intends to appeal this decision to a higher court.

Another serious trouble for the president of Brazil lies in the investigation of the use of funds in the course of Dilma Rousseff’s re-election campaign in 2014. The investigation was initiated at the request of the Brazilian Social Democratic Party and the opposition should determine from what sources Mrs. Rousseff received funds for re-election campaign. The opposition argues that the money has been received, inter alia, from the state oil company, Petrobras, which was headed by Mrs. Rousseff in 2003-2010, respectively, and that was at the center of a scandal with a bribe in exchange for lucrative contracts. This scandal has been dragging on for almost a year, but until now, the General Prosecutor's Office had no evidence of the involvement of Mrs Rousseff in corruption deals.

source: reuters.com