The Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff has been suspended. The Senate of Brazil voted in favor of the procedure impeachment against the leader of the Workers' Party, accused of rigging the state budgets, at the end of a river session that lasted over 22 hours. A simple majority was enough for impeachment: 55 senators voted "yes", 22 "no" and one abstained. After the news of the vote, clashes and demonstrations broke out in various Brazilian cities, both for and against the president.
The vote of the Senate for the dismissal of Rousseff follows the approval of the lower house on April 17: the Brazilian president will be suspended for six months, until next November, to stand trial. The office of interim president will be assumed starting this afternoon by vice president Michel Temer, who is already putting together his government team.
Rousseff will be tried in the Senate which will be presided over by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Ricardo Lewandowski. At the end of the process, the senators will have to vote for innocence or guilt, thus deciding for the definitive dismissal of the Brazilian president. In this case, a two-thirds majority will be needed. Currently the Brazilian elections are scheduled for 2018, but there will probably be an early vote.
One of the possible problems is also the fact that many other people who hold important public offices have been involved in various scandals and would in turn risk facing new impeachment procedures. Among them also the vice president Temer.
