Gov't may appeal to Supreme Court against impeachment yet again
José Eduardo Cardozo 
Attorney-General José Eduardo Cardozo said the government may once again turn to the Supreme Court to question the impeachment case against President Dilma Rousseff. Now, he argues, in their deliberations in the Senate, congressmen should respect all formal procedures of a trial.
To Cardozo's judgment, in this new stage, the president's right to a defense should be more rigorously observed, as per a ruling issued by the Supreme Court. His statements were made during an interview with journalists at the Planalto presidential palace after pro-impeachment votes won the balloting, with 367 votes.
Among the issues the Supreme Court may take into account, Cardozo maintains, is that there is no justifiable reason for impeachment. While saying the government may take the matter to the judiciary yet again, he did not specify whether it will, or when this decision will be made.
“There [in the Senate] is where the right to a defense, according to the STF [Supreme Court] is to be most amply enforced. There's no discussion from this point on. All formal proceedings must be observed,” he said. Cardozo was questioned several times regarding when the government would turn to the Supreme Court again. To every question, his answer was “at an opportune moment, if we are to do that.”
The attorney-general believes the deputies in the lower house judged rapporteur Jovair's report politically through judicial pretenses, and added that the government's arguments will also be judicial and political. “Violators of the Constitution behave politically,” he said.
While saying he did not participate in any discussion on whether the government would call new general elections as a means to tackle the political crisis, Cardozo avoided dwelling on the topic. He went on to affirm that the government was betrayed by a number of lawmakers “who said they were going to cast a vote [against impeachment] but didn't.”
Translated by Fabrício Ferreira
Fonte: Gov't may appeal to Supreme Court against impeachment yet again
