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Unjustified impeachment akin to coup: Brazilian president

Xinhua, December 23, 2015 Adjust font size:

The proposed impeachment proceedings against her were unfounded and unjustified, which is akin to a coup, Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff said on Tuesday.

Impeachment, as a legitimate legal recourse under the constitution, could "turn into a coup when there are no legal grounds for it," Rousseff said in Salvador, a city in northeast Bahia state of Brazil.

The impeachment proceedings against the Brazilian president were authorized earlier this month by President of the Chamber of Deputies Eduardo Cunha, who himself was accused by Rousseff's ruling Workers' Party (PT) of squirreling away millions of U.S. dollars in secret Swiss bank accounts.

Opposition parties, striving to unseat Rousseff by launching the impeachment proceedings against her, accused her of violating fiscal laws and manipulating government finances to benefit her reelection campaign last year.

Senator Acir Gurgacz, a member of Brazil's Congressional budget committee, has recommended Tuesday the approval of the 2014 accounts, which could weaken the political opposition's efforts in launching an impeachment trial against Rousseff.

"The country needs tranquility, and look after the interests of Brazil above personal and political interests," Rousseff said. Endi