Brazil's Supreme Court on Wednesday suspended a meeting that was to decide whether former President Lula da Silva can be his successor's chief of staff. The delay came three days after the lower house of Congress voted to begin impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff. She is accused of using accounting tricks in managing the federal budget.
The Brazilian opposition parties, meeting in the Lower House of Congress sped up the impeachment process against president Dilma Rousseff by holding a session on Friday, a day that lawmakers are normally away from Brasilia.
Former leader Lula da Silva was sworn in as President Dilma Rousseff's chief of staff on Thursday amid a deepening crisis in Brazil as protests against his appointment continued for a second day and a judge sought to block the move.
When a poor man steals, he ends in jail; when a rich man steals he is named minister, the phrase belongs to Lula da Silva back in 1998 when he was leading the opposition, and it is now being repeated in social networks. In effect, on Wednesday Lula was named chief of staff by president Dilma Rousseff, who also phoned him to tell him she would be sending him the official decree on his nomination, so that he make use of it if necessary.
Protests erupted in Brazilian cities on Wednesday after President Dilma Rousseff named her predecessor Lula da Silva chief of staff and a taped telephone conversation fed opposition claims the appointment was meant to shield Lula from prosecution.