Page 11 - atoday

WORLD NEWS A11
Saturday 2 April 2016

Brazil VP Temer targeted by impeachment petition

Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff bites on her fingernail during a signing ceremony for land reform Rousseff’s chances of sur- a “disaster” and said the
agreements, at the Planalto Presidential Palace, in Brasilia, Brazil, Friday, April 1, 2016. Rousseff, viving the impeachment political system “doesn’t
who is battling the biggest recession in decades and a corruption probe that has circled in on proceedings against her have a minimum of demo-
members of her inner circle, is facing impeachment proceedings in Congress on allegations she took a turn for the worse cratic legitimacy,” accord-
violated fiscal laws. earlier this week when the ing to a report in O Globo
PMDB pulled out of Rous- newspaper. The court’s
(AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) seff’s ruling coalition. With press office declined com-
a vote in the lower house ment Friday. “I’d say the
expected as early as the problem with politics at this
middle of the month, Rous- moment is the lack of an
seff is scrambling to secure alternative,” he said, in an
the 172 out of 513 votes she apparent reference to the
needs to halt the impeach- PMDB party. “There is no-
ment proceedings. where to run.” The justice’s
The latest filing against Te- apparently off-the-cuff re-
mer comes a day after re- marks seemed to echo the
marks by a Supreme Court sentiment of many Brazil-
justice disparaging the ians who are fed up with
country’s political class. Rousseff and her left-lean-
In recordings apparently ing Workers’ Party, which
made without his knowl- has governed the country
edge during a meeting since 2003, but don’t see
Thursday with university stu- the scandal-tainted oppo-
dents, Justice Luis Roberto sition as an appealing al-
Barroso called the situation ternative.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — An deny wrongdoing. Gomes
ally of embattled President told reporters his petition
Dilma Rousseff on Friday hinged on testimony in the
filed an impeachment pe- Petrobras probe citing Te-
tition against Vice Presi- mer, including a text mes-
dent Michel Temer, citing sage suggesting he may
testimony that implicates have received an illicit
him in the sprawling cor- payout of $5 million Brazil-
ruption scandal shaking ian reais ($1.4 million).
Brazil’s political class. The “My petition is Quixotic, but
move by Cid Gomes, who I am going to fight these
briefly served as educa- terrible windmills for Brazil,”
tion minister in Rousseff’s Folha de S. Paulo news-
Cabinet, comes as it ap- paper quoted Gomes as
pears increasingly likely saying. This is the fourth
that Rousseff herself will be impeachment petition
impeached on allegations against Temer. Two have
she broke fiscal laws. already been shelved and
If she is impeached, Vice a third is “being processed”
President Temer would be by the speaker of the lower
first in line to replace her, house, Eduardo Cunha,
although his name has a fellow member of the
been cited by several op- vice president’s Brazilian
erators in the snowballing Democratic Movement
probe into corruption at Party, or PMDB, according
the state-run oil company to the house’s press office.
Petrobras. In a sign of how Gomes has requested his
much Brazil’s political class petition be examined not
has been tainted by scan- by Cunha — who is facing
dal, the heads of the lower money laundering charges
house and Senate, second and could be stripped of his
and third in the line of suc- position by the house ethics
cession, are also embroiled committee — but rather by
in the scandal. They all his second-in-command.