Brazilian Supreme Court rules Senate president to keep position

The Brazilian Supreme Court voted Wednesday that Renan Calheiros can keep his position as president of the country's upper house, but agreed to remove him from the presidential line of succession.

Supreme court Judge Marco Aurelio Mello said that it's "unacceptable and grotesque" that the Senate had contested his decision to remove Calheiros from his office. However, the move was reversed by 6 to 3 votes.

Another judge, Celso de Mello, suggested on Wednesday allowing Calheiros to stay in office, but depriving him of his eligibility for presidency.

Celso de Mello argued that removing Calheiros as Senate president could bring about negative consequences for its operation.

On Monday, Marco Aurelio Mello suspended Calheiros from his office after the court last week upheld embezzlement charges brought against the latter in 2013.

However, Calheiros refused to resign and said he would only do so upon a vote by the entire Supreme Court. On Tuesday, the Senate appealed to the court to reverse Marco Aurelio Mello's decision.

Calheiros was indicted on Dec. 1 on charges of using public money to pay off pending child support for an illegitimate daughter.

However, while he has survived this legal challenge, Calheiros is still embroiled in a number of corruption allegations concerning the national oil company Petrobras corruption ring.

The head of the Senate is ordinarily third in the line of succession in Brazil, behind the vice-president and the president of the Chamber of Deputies. Endi