Brazil pres. could face impeachment after losing court

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has been threatened by impeachment proceedings after losing a court battle over her government’s budgetary accounting.

On Wednesday, Brazil’s Federal Accounts Court, or the TCU, ruled that Rousseff’s administration manipulated its accounts in order to cover up a widening deficit before she launched her reelection campaign last year.

According to the court, the Brazilian ruler illegally borrowed unauthorized amounts of money from state-owned banks in order to make up for budget shortfalls. The court says that the irregularities amount to 26 USD billion.

Although the ruling is not legally binding, it can be used by opposition lawmakers who are seeking Rousseff’s impeachment in the country’s Congress.

"This establishes that they doctored fiscal accounts, which is an administrative crime and President Rousseff should face an impeachment vote," Carlos Sampaio, leader of the opposition Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB) party said.

The government argues that it only relocated funds in line with previous practices in order to maintain social programs for Brazil's poor.

The ruling was announced despite a request by the Brazilian government from the Supreme Court to delay the ruling.

Meanwhile, Brazil’s Attorney General Luis Inacio Adams said the government would appeal to the top court and work to overthrow the decision.

A ruling by the electoral court, or TSE, on Tuesday has also paved the way for a separate investigation into alleged irregularities during her reelection campaign.

This comes as Rousseff has been under pressure over suspicions of involvement in illegal funding involving state-oil firm Petrobras.

Rousseff, who served as the oil giant’s chairwoman from 2003 to 2010 when much of the alleged graft took place, denies knowing of or benefiting from the graft.

A number of politicians and former firm executives have been arrested over the corruption scandal which saw an estimated USD 3.8 billion creamed off inflated contracts over a decade.

The scandals as well as the country's struggling economy, which has plunged into a  steep recession, has resulted in a serious drop in Rousseff's popularity rate. Opinion polls show her Workers' Party (PT) currently have a 10 percent approval rate.

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