(REUTERS) — Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff said on Tuesday (May 10) that the country was going through a decisive moment as the Brazilian leader looks to the Supreme Court in a last-ditch attempt to stay in office a day before the Senate will likely vote to try her for breaking budget laws.
Attorney General Eduardo Cardozo, the government’s top lawyer, asked the Supreme Court to annul impeachment proceedings arguing they were politically motivated and had no legal basis.
Earlier in the day, the acting speaker of the lower house of Congress, Waldir Maranhao, withdrew his controversial decision to annul last month’s impeachment vote in the chamber. That meant Cardozo’s appeal to the top court may be the president’s best hope of stopping the process from moving forward.
Speaking at a women’s event in the capital Brasilia, Rousseff said history was being made in the country.
“Look, for me it is a very important moment. It’s a decisive moment. It’s a decisive moment for Brazil’s democracy, a moment we’re going through today. Without a doubt we are going through a time when the people feel that we’re making history, the history of this country,” she declared.
If the Senate votes on Wednesday (May 11) or Thursday (May 12) to impeach Rousseff, she would be suspended from office, pending trial.
The Secretary General of the Organisation of American States, Luis Almagro, came to the support of the embattled president, saying she has not failed the South American nation.
“Dilma has not failed. Dilma has made achievements with you all, definitely in each area of Brazilian politics Dilma has made achievements with you all. Dilma’s courage, the courage of President Dilma Rousseff in her battle is an example for all women in Brazil. Fundamentally, it represents the courage and the value of women in Brazil. This courage and this value is significant for the political standing of women in the future and the courage of women in the future,” he said.
The political crisis has hit at a time when Brazil had planned to be shining on the world stage, as it prepares to host the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in August.
If a simple majority agrees to put her on trial, Rousseff will be suspended from office this week, leaving Vice President Michel Temer in power for up to six months during her trial. If Rousseff were convicted and removed definitively, Temer would stay in the post until elections in 2018.