Rousseff Vows to Fight On After Impeachment

EghtesadOnline: Ousted ex-president Dilma Rousseff has promised to provide a strong opposition to the new center-right government. Her lawyers have already launched an appeal against her removal from office.

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04 September 2016

“I don’t have political plans for office, but I do have political plans. I’m going to oppose this government,” Rouseff told the foreign media on Friday, two days after she was impeached by a Senate vote for breaking budget responsibility rules, AFP reported.

The 68-year-old leftist leader said although she has been given 30 days to vacate the presidential palace, she will move back to her southern hometown of Porto Alegre next week.

Rousseff also had sharp words for Michel Temer, who was her vice president before taking over as interim president when she was initially suspended from office in May.

She warned Temer against straying from the platform the two ran on in 2010 and 2014, adding that if he does, the public would see his government as illegitimate. She also vowed to speak up if his administration tried to crackdown on protests.

The pair were initially allies, but Rousseff now accuses him of leading a “coup” in having her impeached.

Her impeachment ended 13 years of rule by the leftist Workers’ Party, allowing Temer to lead the country until the end of the current presidential term in 2018.

On Thursday, Rousseff appealed against her removal from office to the country’s highest court.

It’s unclear when the court will rule, but several appeals during the months-long impeachment process were rejected.

Her Workers’ Party on Friday called for early elections to elect a new leader following the impeachment.

“Faced with a usurper government, we believe the only way to restore democracy in the country is through a popular vote,” party chairman, Rui Falcao, told a news conference.

Also on Friday, parties in the governing coalition called on the Supreme Court to overturn a Senate decision, which allowed Rousseff to remain politically active. The vote was taken shortly after the impeachment decision on Wednesday, reports Financial Tribune.

Lawmakers spared the leftist leader from an eight-year ban on running for public office or holding any position in government, as provided for in Brazil’s Constitution.

But her lawyer, Jose Eduardo Cardozo said the attempt to deprive her of political rights will fail because the Supreme Court would have to annul both votes in the Senate since one had influenced the other.