Rousseff “outraged” at decision to open impeachment proceedings
Brasília - President Dilma Rousseff said the decision of Eduardo Cunha, Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, to accept an impeachment request against her is outstanding.
Responding to an announcement Wednesday (Dec. 2) by the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Eduardo Cunha, that he decided to accept a request to open an impeachment proceeding against President Dilma Rousseff, the president said in a televised address at Palácio do Planalto that the news was outraging, noting she earned her tenure on the basis of democratic popular choice.
According to the president, the petitions against her are “reckless and lack substance”. “I'm not facing any charges of misappropriation of public funds. I do not have any offshore accounts. I have never coerced, or tried to coerce, any institutions to serve my own interests,” Rousseff said, alluding to charges outstanding against Cunha.
She rebutted media speculation that her allies have been working on political bargains with the deputies, offering to vote against the removal of the lower house speaker in the ethics case against him in exchange for a dismissal of the impeachment bids. “I would never accept or agree to any kind of bargaining, let alone one that threatens the free functioning of the democratic institutions of my country, perverts the course of justice, or violates the moral and ethical principles that should govern public office,” she said.
In her short speech, Rousseff called for calm and trust in public institutions. “We must not let personal convenience and untenable interests undermine democracy and stability in our country. We must keep calm and trust our institutions and the democratic rule of law.”
Translated by Mayra Borges
Fonte: Rousseff “outraged” at decision to open impeachment proceedings
