Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and rival presidential candidate Aecio Neves have clashed over corruption and the state of the economy in the first of a series of televised debates ahead of the second round of presidential elections. 26 October.
The recently approved Transparency Law has exposed that at least a third of the 594 Brazilian federal lawmakers have pending bills with criminal and administrative courts referred mainly to cases of corruption, which is expected to have an impact in the coming elections of next year when most of Congress will be renewed.
Brazil's Supreme Court has narrowly ruled in favour of reopening the country's biggest corruption trial. The court agreed that 12 of 25 people convicted in a scheme using public funds to pay parties for political support could have appeals heard.
After the mensalão case rocked Brazil’s ruling party, it seems it’s now the turn of the Social Democrats (PSDB), the main opposition party. The Attorney General’s office and the police are investigating the allegations against the PSDB and if its leaders received kickbacks from a scheme involving the maintenance of train and metro lines in Sao Paulo.