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Brazilian Senate debates separating votes on Rousseff's impeachment and suspension from public office

Xinhua, September 1, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Brazilian Senate debated on Wednesday morning the final matters before voting on the impeachment of suspended President Dilma Rousseff.

At 11:15 a.m. local time (1415 GMT), the president of the Supreme Court, Ricardo Lewandowski, reviewed the main accusations against Rousseff and allowed senators representing the prosecution and defense to have the floor.

The main evolution of the morning's debate is that Rousseff's supporters demanded that the vote to impeach the president should be held separately from a vote to determine whether she will be suspended from standing for public office for eight years.

Senator Lindbergh Farias, from Rousseff's Workers' Party, said that there is a clear difference between the two issues, since impeachment is a criminal matter yet the suspension from public office is an internal, subjective right of the Senate.

He was supported by Senator Cristovam Buarque, from the opposition Popular Socialist Party. Buarque accepted that the two matters should be voted on separately, adding that he would vote against Rousseff on both.

"I would like for this separation to be permitted. One thing is to take care of Brazil, and it is another to punish a person," Buarque said.

Lewandowski accepted the defence's request for splitting the two matters. However, the Senate must now vote on whether to accept this division, delaying the final impeachment vote. Endit