The Political Future of Brazil’s ‘Frank Underwood’
The Political Future of Brazil’s ‘Frank Underwood’
Eduardo Cunha, the legislator who led the charge to remove Dilma Rousseff, now faces his own crisis.
Marina Koren
| Jun 15, 2016
Two months ago, Eduardo Cunha was leading the impeachment movement that would temporarily unseat Dilma Rousseff, banishing her to the presidential palace to prepare for a trial while her vice president took over her job. Now, Cunha is facing his own fight for his political future.
Brazil’s congressional ethics committee on Tuesday voted in favor of removing Cunha from his seat in the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of Brazil’s congress. The decision arose from corruption allegations against Cunha, a member of the now-ruling Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) who has been described as Rousseff’s “political nemesis.” In May, just one week before Rousseff’s decisive impeachment vote, the country’s Supreme Court suspended Cunha from his position as speaker of the house, at the request of the attorney general, for using his high-ranking role to obstruct ethics committee hearings and intimidate lawmakers.
Cunha said he would appeal the decision to another congressional committee. The full chamber will now vote on the ethics committee’s recommendation, which would require an absolute majority of members—257 of 513—to pass. If legislators vote to kick Cunha out, the chamber would hold elections for a new speaker; Waldir Maranhao, a member of the Progressive Party and a Cunha ally, currently holds the position on an interim basis. And Cunha, dubbed the “Frank Underwood of Brazil” by Western media for spearheading House of Cards-esque impeachment proceedings, would be barred from running for political office for eight years.
Cunha’s political crisis is reminiscent of the one he laid out for Rousseff, the leader of the Workers’ Party (PT), this spring. Rousseff is accused of lying about and concealing the state of the government’s troubled financial situation during her re-election campaign in 2014; Cunha is accused of lying about and concealing bank accounts he owns in Switzerland. Rousseff spent days in limbo as lawmakers considered whether to oust her; Cunha will do the same. Signs reading “tchau querida”—bye, darling—followed Rousseff out after the months-long impeachment saga; last month, members of the lower house who oppose Cunha held up placards that read “fora Cunha”—out Cunha. Both Cunha and Rousseff have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. And both face increasing public distrust because of the same thing: the biggest corruption scandal in the history of Brazil.
More:
http://www.theatlantic.com/news/archive/2016/06/brazil-cunha-rousseff/487136/
Good Reads:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1016160873
