Roundup: Brazilian president, her predecessor face great challenges

Mass anti-government protests occurred Sunday across Brazil, demanding the ouster of President Dilma Rousseff and the arrest of her predecessor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. The once popular duo are facing great challenges.

Once, former President Lula and President Rosself proved phenomenally successful, as is exemplified in their Bolsa Familia (Family Grant) program, which provided small sums of money to poorer families, usually to women, as long as their children were vaccinated and stayed in school.

This program contributed to poverty reduction, cemented Lula's popularity and allowed him to leave office with approval ratings of over 80 percent, particularly in the poorer north, where Lula comes from.

The major slice of vote in northern states formed the base of support that has allowed the Workers' Party (PT) to remain in office for four consecutive terms, totalling 13 years.

After Lula's exit from the presidency, Rousseff, who is said to be handpicked by Lula, continued his policies of reducing energy bills, exempting a number of staple foods from sales tax and lowering interest rates. Her own popularity surged to 79 percent in March 2013.

However, things have changed since problems emerged.

There were already signs of trouble in Lula's administration. Critics said that his profligate spendings had left the country's finances in a perilous condition but they were mostly ignored as Rousseff handily won her first term in 2010.

The weight of years of broad public spending strained the government's budget. Prices soared and the Brazilian economy, which still critically depended on raw materials, tumbled. Protectionist policies, which investors had accepted to profit from the Brazilian market, now drive investors' confidence down. The cost of the 2016 Olympics in Rio ballooned.

Finally, the Petrobras corruption scandal brought down some of the titans of Brazil's politics and businesses and triggered off mass dissatisfaction with the ruling class.

In March 2016, the news that Lula had been charged with money laundering during the Petrobras probe shocked the country and increased the pressure on Rousseff, as she had just faced down an impeachment over allegations that her government illegally manipulated accounts to boost public spending during her 2014 re-election campaign in late 2015.

The impeachment procedure then stalled but it may be picked up again as her foe Eduardo Cunha is expected to form a commission to begin impeachment proceedings against her over allegations of fiscal mismanagement in this week.

Rousseff has flatly refused to step down, rightfully saying that no evidence of any crime has ever been found against her. However, this argument might start to wear thin.

Many critics blame Rousseff for sinking the economy into its worst recession in at least 25 years, as the Brazilian GDP contracted 3.8 percent last year. Opinion polls show that more than half of Brazilians favor impeaching the president.

Moreover, should the charges against Lula stick, it is virtually unthinkable that, as Lula's former chief of staff, Rousseff would have been blind to his accused misdoing.

Sao Paulo state prosecutors requested on Thursday the preventive arrest of the ex-president, but the judge in charge of the case has yet to approve or reject the request.

Brazilian police raided Lula's home on Friday and detained him for questioning. Lula denies the allegations. Endi