Lula calls on Workers' Party deputies to stand up firmly against Rousseff ouster
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva called on Workers' Party (PT) members of the Chamber of Deputies in a meeting Thursday (Oct. 15) to take a “firm” and “blunt” stance against the opposition's moves pressing for the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff, the party leader in the house, Deputy Sibá Machado, reported.
According to him, Lula advised the deputies to confront the opposition and take the impeachment threats seriously, so the party will “clash” with the opposition if needed, and seek to engage the society and social movements in the issue.
The meeting was attended by 12 deputies of the party bench, and rated as “very positive” by Machado, who denied reports that Lula came to Brasília to cut a deal with the speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Eduardo Cunha, in order to make sure he dismisses the opposition's impeachment case against President Dilma Rousseff.
Machado also denied that PT Congress members have received any orders to protect Cunha in the Ethics Committee of the Chamber of Deputies to avoid his removal from office. “We haven't even talked about this. The committee is setting up a board [to investigate Cunha], and its members are fully aware of their responsibilities,” he said.
Through a press release, Lula Institute, founded by the former president, also said that Lula “does not engage in, nor does he encourage, any arrangements to allegedly 'protect' the speaker of the Chamber of Deputies in the proceedings of the Ethics Committee [to remove him from office]. The former president believes this is a matter for the legal system to handle, in accordance with the law and the Constitution.”
Translated by Mayra Borges
Fonte: Lula calls on Workers' Party deputies to stand up firmly against Rousseff ouster
