Brazil senate forms impeachment committee

 Brazil's Senate formed a committee that will consider whether to impeach President Dilma Rousseff, who has accused her opponents of mounting a constitutional coup.

    Rousseff's case was sent to the Senate by the lower house after an overwhelming vote against Rousseff on April 17. She is accused of illegal government accounting maneuvers, but says she has not committed an impeachment-worthy crime.

    The Senate committee, comprising 21 of the 81 senators, was to debate Rousseff's fate for up to 10 working days before making a recommendation to the full upper house.

    The Senate then votes, on May 12, according to latest Brazilian media estimates, whether to open an impeachment trial, with a simple majority required.

    At that moment Rousseff would be suspended for 180 days while the trial got underway. Her vice president turned leading political opponent, Michel Temer, would take over.

    To remove Rousseff definitively from office at the end of the trial, the Senate would have to vote with a two-thirds majority. If Rousseff is in fact removed from office, Temer would retain the presidency until scheduled elections in 2018.

Source: QNA