巴西衆議院通過彈劾總統羅塞夫動議

Brazil’s congress voted on Sunday evening to impeach President Dilma Rousseff, ushering in a new period of heightened political uncertainty in Latin America’s biggest country.

巴西衆議院在上週日晚投票通過了彈劾總統迪爾瑪•羅塞夫(Dilma Rousseff)的動議，這令拉美最大國家進入了一個政治更加動盪的新時期。

Pro-impeachment politicians erupted into cheers and patriotic songs when the vote tally reached 342 in favour of the motion — the two-thirds of the 513-seat lower house needed to approve the motion, compared with 126 against. The final result had yet to be counted.

通過彈劾動議須得到衆議院513個議席中的三分之二議席贊成。當贊成票達到342票時，支持彈劾總統的政治人士爆發出熱烈的歡呼，並高唱愛國歌曲。反對票爲126票。最終投票結果尚未統計出來。

The decision threatens to bring an abrupt end to 13 years of Ms Rousseff`s socialist Workers’ party, or PT, rule and allow her vice-president Michel Temer to form a new government.

巴西衆議院的這一決定可能會突然終結羅塞夫所在的、奉行社會主義的勞工黨(PT)長達13年的執政歷程，並令她的副總統米歇爾•特梅爾(Michel Temer)能夠組建新政府。

The baton now passes to the senate, which analysts expect to open the formal impeachment process, essentially a political trial, in the first half of next month.

彈劾的接力棒現在傳到了參議院手中。分析人士預計，參議院將於5月上半旬啓動正式彈劾程序。這場彈劾實質上是一場政治審判。

But the decision by congress to pass the impeachment process after a marathon three-day session of speeches and behind-the-scenes politicking also threatens to increase political risk in Brazil.

巴西衆議院決定通過彈劾程序前，經歷了三天馬拉松式的演講和幕後政治活動。這項決定可能加劇巴西面臨的政治風險。

The lower house of congress must now pass the impeachment process to the senate, which is expected by this Friday to install a special commission on the impeachment process.

巴西衆議院現在必須將彈劾程序轉至參議院，預計參議院將於本週五圍繞彈劾程序設置一個特別委員會。

The commission will have 10 days to submit its own report on the proposal, which will then be put to a vote in the senate on about May 11. If the senate votes by a simple majority of its 81 members to accept the motion, the formal impeachment trial will begin.

該委員會將有10天時間提交它自己的彈劾報告，然後參議院將在5月11日左右付諸表決。如果參議院81名議員以過半票數通過彈劾動議，將開啓正式的彈劾審判。

Ms Rousseff will be suspended for up to six months and Mr Temer will take over as acting president.

羅塞夫將暫時停職至多半年，其間由特梅爾擔任代理總統。

If two-thirds of the senate’s 81 members vote to impeach her in a session expected by the opposition to be held in late June, Mr Temer will lead the country until the next elections in 2018.

反對派預計參議院6月末將舉行一次投票，如果81名參議員中有三分之二支持彈劾羅塞夫，特梅爾將直接出任巴西領導人，直到2018年的下次大選。

During the coming month, however, Ms Rousseff will still be president and will be able to use her office to try to persuade the senate to reject the impeachment motion by offering jobs and other financial incentives, opposition politicians fear.

但在接下來的一個月裏，羅塞夫仍將擔任巴西總統，並能夠利用她的職位來努力說服參議院否決彈劾動議，條件是提供工作崗位和其他經濟獎勵，這令反對派政治人士感到擔心。