Spotlight: Brazilian lawmakers to vote on Rousseff's impeachment after marathon debate

Brazilian senators were engaged in a marathon debate Tuesday night before the final vote on the impeachment trial against President Dilma Rousseff.

Out of a total of 81 senators, over 60 of them signed to speak, dragging the debate into late at night.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Ricardo Lewandowski, who is presiding over the impeachment process, said the final vote in the trial will be held on Wednesday morning.

For Rousseff to be removed from office, at least 54 senators, or two thirds of the 81 senators, must vote in favor of the impeachment.

The possibility of Rousseff surviving the impeachment vote is very low, based on the latest estimate, analysts said.

Most senators criticized Rousseff in their statements, saying she is to blame for the deep economic recession and serious corruption in Brazil, apart from her fiscal wrongdoing.

Some pro-Rousseff senators, meanwhile, said the impeachment is unjust and politically biased.

Before the senators went forward to speak, the prosecution and defense lawyers gave their emotional final statements.

Rousseff's defense lawyer, former Justice Minister Jose Eduardo Cardozo, made a heartfelt call for senators not to vote in what he called "a parliamentary coup."

Meanwhile, Miguel Reale Junior and Janaina Paschoal, who filed the impeachment case against Rousseff, said the president did commit fraud.

"It is a constitutional remedy to which we must resort when the situation is particularly serious," Paschoal said.

She said the people called for Rousseff's impeachment.

Rousseff is charged with spending without congressional approval and manipulating government accounts in the run-up to her 2014 re-election.

She was suspended on May 12, for up to 180 days.

Her impeachment is widely regarded as inevitable among local politicians and mainstream media outlets.

Rousseff, who defended herself in the Senate on Monday, was interrogated by senators for over 12 hours till midnight. She denied any wrongdoing and called the impeachment "a coup."

Though Rousseff's defense in the Senate was regarded as firm and coherent, it is unlikely to turn the tide in her favor, analysts said.

If found guilty, Rousseff will be removed from office definitively while her former Vice President Michel Temer will be confirmed as the new leader for the rest of Rousseff's four-year term through 2018.

The 75-year-old Temer, if confirmed as president, will face serious challenges, including an economy deep in recession as well as an investigation into the state oil company Petrobras. Endi