Spotlight: Brazilian Senate runs lengthy debate on Rousseff impeachment

Brazilian senators on Wednesday took turns to debate an impeachment trial of President Dilma Rousseff, with the results of a vote expected some time after midnight.

The 81-member Senate said early in the day its session would likely last over 15 hours, but in the first eight hours only 22 senators have spoken.

Eighteen of them said they are in favor of the impeachment and only four, including three from the president's Workers' Party, said they stand against the move.

A simple majority is needed to approve the impeachment process -- 41 votes out of 81.

Rousseff's political rivals said she is "criminally responsible" for her administration's use of state bank loans to inflate public accounts in 2014 and 2015, so as to improve her chances of getting reelected to a second term.

She and her backers dismissed the accusation as an excuse to oust her and marginalize the ruling Workers' Party.

Senator Fatima Bezerra, one of the four who spoke against the impeachment, said Rousseff has not committed any crime. In a passionate speech, Bezerra called the impeachment "a fantasy to hide a political project defeated at the polls."

Senator Angela Portela, also a supporter of Rousseff, said the opposition has "an uncontrollable desire to subvert the result of the election" and warned against attempts to roll back social welfare programs spearheaded by the Workers' Party.

By getting rid of the president, "we will be getting rid of a successful government proposal and a generous project to redesign our society, a project that calls for inclusion, protection of minorities, reduction of inequalities and economic growth with justice," she said.

Senator Telmario Mota, from the Democratic Labor Party, slammed Wednesday's Senate vote on whether to launch the impeachment trial as "against democratic ideals."

"We have never heard so much about democracy, but democracy is not being respected, as the democratic vote at the ballots is being taken from millions of voters," he said, calling the impeachment proposal "an attempt to seize power."

Those in favor of the impeachment were equally passionate.

Senator Jose Maranhao, from the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, blamed the government for the current economic quagmire the country faces, saying the government has shown inadequate capacity in addressing challenges such as rising unemployment, inflation and precarious healthcare and education systems.

Senator Ataides Oliveira, of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party, the main opposition force, defended the impeachment trial as a means of upholding the constitution.

"Today the Senate will take the country out of the hands of the Workers' Party and give it back to the Brazilian people," he said. "We are here to defend the constitution."

Should the impeachment move forward, Rousseff will have to be removed from office for the trial's 180-day duration, during which Vice President Michel Temer will take over the presidency.

According to local media and political pundits, Temer has already lined up a brand new cabinet and plans to eliminate a number of ministries, especially those managing social welfare programs.

"Temer is going to take office, and everything indicates that he will try to rapidly approve austerity measures and some reforms, for which he will have to organize his coalition in Congress," David Fleischer, a political scientist at the University of Brasilia, told Xinhua in the lead up to the Senate vote.

Political observer Murillo de Aragao, head of the Arko Advice consulting firm, believes Temer needs to act fast and tough.

"There's only one way: to take office with a strong agenda that will regain lost fiscal credibility and encourage the economic enterprises ... that generate jobs and profits," said Aragao. Endi