Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff says she is “outraged” at attempts to impeach her and that she has a clear conscience.
Speaking after the lower house of Congress voted to begin impeachment proceedings against her, she said she had done nothing wrong.
She is accused of manipulating government accounts, which she denies.
Speaking calmly and in a measured way, she said she would fight “the injustice” she was facing and would not bow to pressure.
Lawmakers in the lower house of Congress last Sunday voted overwhelmingly in favour of sending an impeachment motion against her to the upper house.
The Senate will now have to decide whether to start an impeachment trial. Senators are expected to vote on the matter early next month.
Polls conducted by Brazil’s major newspapers suggest a majority of the senators will vote in favour of the trial.
If that happens, Ms Rousseff will be suspended from office while the trial is under way.
‘Conspirator‘
Vice-President Michel Temer will become acting president for the duration of her suspension.
Who will lead Brazil if Dilma Rousseff is impeached?
How did Brazil get here?
Brazil’s media reflects divisions
Ms Rousseff had harsh words for Mr Temer, whom she accused of openly conspiring against her.
Mr Temer is a member of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) which until recently was in a coalition with Ms Rousseff’s Workers’ Party.
But just weeks before Sunday’s impeachment vote, the PMDB left the coalition and its leadership voted to support the impeachment proceedings against Ms Rousseff.
Many Brazilian newspapers featured a photograph of Mr Temer on Monday, showing him smiling as he watched the votes against Ms Rousseff being cast in the lower house.
By: BBC
