Bolsonaro’s Bid to Impeach Supreme Court Justice Fails, Senate Leader Says

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Brazilian Senate President Rodrigo Pacheco refused to initiate an impeachment process against the Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, sought by the country’s President Jair Bolsonaro amid escalating clash between the branches of power in Brazil.

"As a Senate President I decided to reject the impeachment… It is important to preserve the fundamental division of power, grant the independence of each one and seek a harmony between them," Pacheco stated on Wednesday.

The senate head also expressed hope that this decision would contribute to the nation’s unity and the restoration of normal relations between the judiciary and the executive.

Under Brazil’s Constitution, only the Senate President has powers to launch an impeachment process. If he had agreed to do so, a council of 21 senators would have been summoned to assess the accusations against Moraes.

The clash between the president and the judiciary was triggered by Bolsonaro’s repeated attacks on Brazil’s electronic voting system that was introduced in the country in 1996 and has been the only voting method since then.

On 20 August, Bolsonaro sent a request to the Senate, the upper house of parliament, to impeach Moraes after he opened several probes into the conduct of the president.

Bolsonaro is currently entangled in multiple investigations into his activities as president. Earlier this month, the Brazilian Supreme Court launched a probe into the president’s allegations that Brazil’s electronic voting system is vulnerable to fraud. At the same time, it began investigating Bolsonaro himself over alleged dissemination of fake news. On 13 August 13, the Supreme Court launched a probe into the release of secret Federal Police documents by Bolsonaro that he posted on Twitter in a bid to prove what he believes are vulnerabilities of Brazil’s long-established e-voting system.