Senate holds final sitting in President Rousseff's impeachment trial today

Today, Brazil's senators will seal the political fate of the president of the country, Dilma Rousseff, who has been suspended from office since May, when the Senate voted to prosecute the impeachment case against her. The sentencing hearing is slated to begin at 11am. Chief Supreme Court Justice Ricardo Lewandowski, who presides over the trial, will open the session by giving a briefing of the closing arguments of the prosecution and the defense. In order to impeach the president and permanently remove her from office, at least 54 votes are required, equivalent to two thirds of the total 81 senators.

Lewandowski will ask senators the following question: “Is the defendant President of the Republic, Ms Dilma Vana Rousseff, guilty of the charges of high crimes and misdemeanors for borrowing from a banking institution controlled by the State, and issuing budget appropriations without the consent of the National Congress, and, as such, liable to forfeiture of her current office as President of the Republic and disqualification from holding public office for a period of eight years?”

The senators will vote openly on the electronic voting system, and there will be no roll call for senators to take the floor and state their votes verbally. After they have cast their votes, Lewandowski will announce the results. He will immediately award the sentence and all senators will be invited to sign it. Then, their resolution will be published.

If the president is convicted, she will be immediately notified, and so will interim President Michel Temer. The President of the Senate, Renan Calheiros, will then call a Congress meeting to be held at the Chamber of Deputies on the same day, to swear Temer into office as the new president.

Translated by Mayra Borges