Congressional committee vote in favour of Dilma Roussef impeachment

Brazil’s 65-member congressional committee has voted in favour of impeachment proceedings against the country’s president Dilma Roussef.

The final tally of votes was of 38 to 27 in favour of proceedings to determine whether she manipulated government accounts to hide a growing deficit.

The issue, which has caused a stir in the country, still awaits a full vote in the lower house on 17 or 18 April.

The BBC reports that the vote took place amid chaotic scenes with supporters and opponents of President Rousseff shouting slogans and waving placards, and police preparing for mass protests in the capital Brasilia.

The committee's vote, although largely symbolic, was being watched as a measure of how much support there is for the impeachment process ahead of the crucial vote in the full lower house of Congress, the BBC reports.

342 votes in favour are needed in the lower house to send the matter on to the Senate, with the latest opinion poll by the Estadao daily suggesting that 292 are in favour, 115 against and 106 undecided.

New reports add that if the impeachment goes forward, Rousseff will be suspended for 180 days while the trial continues in the Senate, with Vice-President Michel Temer, from the opposition PMDB party, taking over temporarily.