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Poll: Majority of Brazil's MPs Support President's Impeachment


President Dilma Rousseff addresses a news conference in Brasilia, Brazil, April 5, 2016.
President Dilma Rousseff addresses a news conference in Brasilia, Brazil, April 5, 2016.

Most members in Brazil’s lower house favor impeaching Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff but there might not be enough votes in parliament to bring charges against her.

The Brazilian newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo reported that a poll of lawmakers taken between March 21 and April 7 showed 60 percent of the country's parliament supports impeachment.

That would not be enough to proceed with impeachment. According to Datafolha, a leading pollster, 308 representatives from both the lower house and Senate favor impeachment, but 342 votes are needed to bring impeachment charges against Rousseff.

The poll showed that 21 percent of lawmakers were against impeachment, representing 108 votes in favor of Rousseff staying in her role.

Brazil's lower house is due to vote on April 17 to send the case to the Senate. If the Senate agrees to put her on trial, Rousseff would be suspended from office.

Opposition lawmakers say that Rousseff illegally borrowed money to boost public spending and mask the severity of the country's economic downturn from voters during her 2014 re-election campaign.

Rousseff denies wrongdoing and dismisses the impeachment effort as baseless.

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