巴西參議院投票支持對總統進行彈劾審訊大綱
The Brazilian Senate has voted to begin the impeachment trial of embattled President Dilma Rousseff, a move that could officially hand over power to her former vice president – current interim president – Michel Temer.
Senate debate stretched into the early hours of Wednesday morning, but the results were clear-cut, with a 59 to 21 majority voting in favor of moving forward with the impeachment proceedings. The Senate needed just a simple majority to decide on taking Rousseff to trial, but a two-thirds majority will be needed in the final vote, which will come after the trial in late August.
The Senate suspended Rousseff in May after allegations emerged that she illegally fudged the numbers on the country's budget to make it seem like a slump in the economy wasn't as bad as it actually was during her 2014 re-election campaign. Throughout the impeachment process, Rousseff has maintained that she did nothing wrong and called it a coup.
Rousseff has denied she broke budget laws and maintains she is the victim of a right-wing conspiracy to overthrow her government that advanced the interests of Brazil's poor.
In her written defense last month Rousseff said Brazilians knew an honest woman was being put on trial and she called the impeachment proceedings a "farce" and her alleged crimes no more than "routine acts of budgetary management."
Her conviction would end her 13-year reign over Brazil, and leave the largest economy in Latin America in the hands of her conservative former vice president.
Since the Senate suspended Rousseff on May 12, Brazil's stock market and currency have strengthened based on investor speculation that Temer, who has laid out policy proposals that favor private business, will be better for the economy.
Temer has implored the Senate to move quickly, saying that the “"people need to know who the president is."
If Rousseff is found guilty, Temer will become the president until the next election is held in 2018.巴西參議院投票同意開始對深陷困境的羅塞夫總統進行彈劾審訊。此舉有可能將權力正式移交給她的前副總統、現任臨時總統特梅。
參議院辯論持續到週三凌晨，但結果非常明確，參議員們以59比21的多數投票支持推動彈劾程序。參議院只需簡單多數就可以決定讓羅塞夫接受審訊，但最後的彈劾投票則需要三分之二的多數才能通過，這將在8月底的審訊之後進行。
參議院今年5月令羅塞夫停職。之前，有指控浮出水面說，羅塞夫在2014年競選連任期間，爲了讓經濟衰退看上去沒有實際情況那麼嚴重，非法編造了該國預算數字。但是，在整個彈劾過程中，羅塞夫都堅決表示她沒有做錯任何事，並稱這是一場政變。
羅塞夫還否認自己違反了預算法，並堅稱她是右翼陰謀推翻政府的受害人，而她領導下的這屆政府是促進窮人利益的。
上個月，羅塞夫在其書面辯護書中說，巴西人知道受審的是一個誠實的女人。她稱這個彈劾程序是一場“鬧劇”，她被指控的犯罪不外乎是“預算管理層的常規行爲。”
一旦被判刑，她對巴西長達13年的統治就將宣告結束，拉美這個最大的經濟體也將移交給她的保守派副總統。
自從參議院5月12日令羅塞夫停職以來，巴西股票市場和貨幣都有所加強，因爲投資者預計，特梅的政策建議佈局有利於私營企業，對經濟更好。
特梅已經懇請參議院迅速採取行動，他說:“人民需要知道總統是誰。”
如果羅塞夫被判有罪，特梅將接任總統直到2018年舉行下一次大選。
