Analysts Doubt Rousseff’s Impeachment will Fix Brazil

By Lise Alves, Senior Contributing Reporter

SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL – After months of debates, accusations and justifications, Brazil’s senate is expected to impeach suspended President Dilma Rousseff on Wednesday. Although many say that the ousting of Brazil’s first woman president will improve the country’s economic and political situation, others are not as confident.

“What we have to do is to reconstruct the left [wing],” said Senator Cristovam Buarque on the Senate floor. The senator says he believes the [Michel] Temer Administration has the power to ‘return credibility to the economy’.

For former Rio de Janeiro Governor, Wellington Moreira Franco the impeachment will leave President Temer with more power to implement the reforms that need to be implemented.

“He will become the president of the Republic, not an interim figure. As President he will be much stronger and able to approve the measures that will lead to the fastest fiscal balance possible,” he told daily Valor Economico.

Yet the Rousseff’s impeachment and the installation of a new administration is not a clear solution for the massive political and economic turmoil in Brazil.

For Joao Augusto de Castro Neves, Latin American director at Eurasia Group, the impeachment is not the solution. “While the end of a long impeachment trial will bring some respite, the incoming government will continue to face an uphill battle to put the country back on track,” says Neves.

For Neves, President Michel Temer will be able to implement many of the required reforms, but he won’t be able to solve all of the country’s problems. “There is no silver bullet for that.”

In order for Dilma Rousseff to be impeached by the Senate, at least two-thirds, or 54 of a total of 81 of Brazilian senators need to approve the impeachment. According to informal tallies conducted by local media, 53 senators have already said they would vote for impeachment, against twenty senators stating they were against.