Spitting,
shouting, singing. Speeches honouring your grandchildren, corrupt
politicians and former torturers – a family day out at the Brazilian
Parliament.
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| When your back's against the wall, impeach the President |
A couple of weeks ago was another step in the impeachment process against President Dilma, for
allegations of tinkering with the government accounts before the last election.
Those against the impeachment say it’s a coup d’etat, instigated by those set
to gain the most.
Assuming the impeachment goes ahead, Vice-President Michel
Temer will become the President, in spite of a body of evidence of corruption
against him. Also set to benefit is the President of the Lower House of
Congress, Eduardo Cunha, also, in spite of evidence of corruption, bribery and
purgery. And, of course, there are many hinting at US interference as well.
It all
seems to me the type of 1980’s conspiratorial farce that you read about years
later when CIA documents are declassified.
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| The media have been said to be rather biased |
30 seconds was not enough ego-boosting time on national TV for many of
the self-promoting congressmen and women whipping themselves into a feverish
frenzy. Here are some highlights (remember, all live on national TV, in the
Lower House of Republic’s Parliamant):
- most voters
in favour of impeachment, draped in
the colours of the national flag like partisan football fans, seized their 30
seconds to scream dedications to their wives, children, parents and friends and
wish happy birthday to grandchildren. They often thanked God for this day and
sited their Christian or Evangelical beliefs, and informed the nation how many
votes they won in their last elections.
- as in
general life here (especially TV commercials), the public were treated as
imbeciles incapable of independent thought, seduced by the person shouting the
loudest, and boy, did they shout!
- many
voters against impeachment presented
clear and reasonable arguments and a rational justification for their vote, explaining
why they see the impeachment as a coup d’etat instigated by major politicians
already under huge investigations for their own corruption scandals.
- Jair Bolsonaro
honoured army man Colonel Ustra, who ran a torture centre during the dictatorship.
- Eduardo
Bolsonaro, Jair’s son, honoured the general
responsible for military coup of 1964 that led to the dictatorship.
- Congressman
Jean Wyllys reacted to this by spitting enthusiastically at Bolsonaro Senior
- one
elated congressmen tried to hand his vote to his son, until the President of
the Lower House Eduardo Cunha, for once following the rules, advised the
congressmen this was not legal.
- 303 congressmen
and women accused of various other crimes all had their chance to vote, and
voted overwhelmingly in favour of impeachment in a move of self-preservation (of course siting democracy).
- some of the politicians refused to move from the same spot for hours on end, for fear of having their moment of fame and glory ended. One guy spent the whole evening wiping his sweaty bald head with the national flag.
- each vote
in favour was greeted with rapturous song and cheer, one shot off a party
popper.
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| Wlad going wild |
It was like watching a raucous,
out-of-control stag do, not the nation’s politicians meeting on a somber,
historical day deciding the politically-motivated impeachment of a
democratically-elected president based on flimsy evidence. But then, huge
numbers of these politicians have a vested interest in the impeachment, as they
hope it will see investigations into their own, more widespread corruption
disappear.
Inevitably,
the yes vote won and it now goes to the senate. It will be an intriguing few
months ahead to see how all this evolves.
For an
interesting article on the vote and the impeachment process by The Guardian - http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/18/dilma-rousseff-congress-impeach-brazilian-president
