Brazilian Lawmakers Approve President’s Impeachment in Parliamentary Vote

Two-thirds of Brazilian lawmakers approved the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff in a parliamentary vote, broadcast by the local television.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to the Globo television channel, 342 members of the 513-seat lower house of the Brazilian parliament on Sunday voted in favor of impeachment.

The upper house of the parliament – the Senate – will now have to make a decision on the issue. A special Senate commission will be formed within 10 days, after which the senators will hold a vote on the president’s impeachment.

Rousseff has been facing a wave of public discontent for over a year amid Brazil’s struggling economy and a major corruption scandal in the state-owned Petrobras petroleum company. The opposition has accused the president of corruption and violation of financial rules by manipulating state bank accounts to close budget gaps.