Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff was thrown a lifeline by the Supreme Court in her fight against impeachment, while her chief antagonist faced troubles of his own today in Congress, where he is accused of corruption.
The impeachment rollercoaster took a dramatic turn late yesterday when the Supreme Court slapped a week-long freeze on the special commission formed to recommend to Congress whether Rousseff should be removed from office.
The suspension was made in response to an appeal from Rousseff allies that the opposition had illegally insisted on secret votes -- not the usual open ballots -- while picking who would sit on the congressional commission.
The goal, according to the opposition, was to stack the body with anti-Rousseff deputies. Their recommendation would not be binding, but would set the tone for votes in the lower house and Senate on the president's fate.
The court will rule next Wednesday and is not expected to scupper the whole impeachment process. However, even a delay was good news for Rousseff, who a year into her second term is fighting for her political life.
Brazil's first female president, a moderate leftist, is accused of illegal budgeting maneuvers, but says the practices were long accepted by previous governments. She calls the attempt to bring her down a "coup."
The turmoil is stirring passions across the South American country of 204 million people, where Rousseff's Workers' Party has been in power since 2003 with the help of its often uncomfortable coalition partner, the centrist PMDB.
Nationwide opposition rallies are planned Sunday and yesterday Rousseff supporters marched in central Rio de Janeiro, which will host the 2016 Olympics.
Political uncertainty is also adding to the economic mess, with GDP down 4.5 per cent in the third quarter year-on-year, and the national currency down a third against the dollar this year. A vast corruption scandal centered on state oil giant Petrobras has also put a hole in investor confidence.
In the latest sign of the dismal economy, the government announced year-on-year inflation for November of 10.48 per cent -- the highest in 12 years. In parallel with Rousseff's struggles, her main foe, the speaker of the lower house Eduardo Cunha, is also trying to save his career.
Cunha, from the PMDB's openly anti-Rousseff wing, is the architect of the impeachment drive and also oversaw the controversial session Tuesday to form the commission.
But in an illustration of the almost surreal level of corruption eating away at Brazil's elite, Cunha faces criminal corruption charges that he took millions of dollars in bribes and hid money in Swiss bank accounts.
On Wednesday, an ethics committee was expected to vote -- following repeated delays -- on whether to open an enquiry, which could then lead to Cunha being forced out. The ultra-conservative politician says the charges are politically motivated and has fought fiercely to retain his post.
Analysts say that the entire impeachment crisis has in part been linked to Cunha's battle to distract attention from his case and ensure his continued influence as speaker.
