Brazil president charges to be brought to vote on Aug 2

Brazil's lower house speaker Rodrigo Maia announced that the vote on the decision to stop the advancement of the corruption allegations against President Michel Temer will be held on August 2, after a parliamentary break.

The decision, Maia said, was made after a deal with both pro-government and opposition leaders, shortly after the approval of the Senate committee report recommending the charges lodged by the Brazilian Prosecutor-General to be shelved.

According to the house speaker, political leaders do not believe there would be enough attendance for the vote to begin on Friday (Jul 14) or Monday (17), when the parliamentary break begins. “I was ready to vote on Monday, but leaders from the opposition and the government chose August 2,” he said.

In order for the lower house to send the charges further on to the supreme court for deliberations, the favorable votes of two thirds of lower house members (342) are required. The ballot can be held as soon as the 342 of the 513 congress members attend the floor session.

The session is slated for 9 am. “I hope we can have this issue settled by the evening of August 2,” Maia said, adding that, before the vote begins per se, 25 minutes will be given so that the rapporteur and the president's defense may repeat their statements.

The Senate committee

This Thursday afternoon (13), the Senate committee, known as the Committee for Constitution and Justice—CJJ in the original acronym—voted on two different reports regarding the charges filed by the Prosecutor-General's Office targeting the president. The first, by Sergio Zveiter, of the ruling Brazil Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), advocated the admissibility of the case, and was rejected by 40 votes against 45. The second document, recommending the interruption of the case, put together by Paulo Abi-Ackel, of the pro-government Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB), was passed by 41 against 24.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira