Senate to create impeachment committee next week

After a meeting with party leaders to discuss President Dilma Rousseff's impeachment proceedings, Senate President Renan Calheiros said that members of the special committee, to examine the impeachment request, will be appointed according to bloc parties. According to Calheiros, the names may be chosen until Friday (Apr. 22). From there, if any bloc resists to appoint the members to the committee, he will do it himself, as established by the internal rules of the Senate.

According to the calendar published by Calheiros, and as the leaders of parties supporting the president have already declared that they will announce the decision at the last minute, the special committee shall be created next Tuesday (Apr. 26). Before that, however, the election of the 21 members and their substitutes shall be held in deliberative session on the House's floor.

Asked about the reasons for not holding the election of the committee's members on Monday (Apr. 25), Calheiros explained that there was no reason for it. "We would look very bad in history if we wanted to ignore the defense, or the allegation itself, by spending one more or one less day. I will not play such role," he reported.

The Senate president has also explained that any question raised will be first tackled in accordance with the Constitution and, then, according to the analysis of the Supreme Court and to the Law of impeachment. Finally, the internal rules of the Senate will also be taken into consideration.

Also according to Calheiros, the Senate will work to the deadlines set by the rite, always based on working days, not on calendar days, which would include Saturdays and Sundays, as the opposition demanded.

Dissatisfactions

The opposition disagrees with creation of the special committee only next week and accused the Workers' Party (PT) of wanting to delay the process. The supporters to ousting President Dilma Rousseff said that the right day for creating the committee would be this Friday (Apr. 22). These lawmakers, most member of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB) and Democratas Party, exert pressure on the Senate president even for holding sessions on the weekends.

However, the calendar defended by the Workers' Party for creating the special committee shall be imposed as the Senate president understands it. Not everything has been decided yet. The PT senators have warned that they intend to appeal to the Supreme Court if Attorney-General José Eduardo Cardozo, responsible for Rousseff's defense, is not heard by the special committee before producing the recommendation on the admissibility of the case, which has no deadline set yet.

* Carolina Gonçalves added to this story

Translated by Amarílis Anchieta