Roberto Jefferson, the congressman who sparked a corruption scandal threatening to overwhelm the government of president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has been expelled from Brazil’s Congress after legislators voted to cancel his mandate on Wednesday night.
He is the first of several legislators expected to be expelled over their roles in the scandal.
The Brazilian government has come to a near standstill because of the affair, which is likely to cause lasting damage to Mr Lula da Silva’s Workers’ party (PT) and weaken the president’s chances of re-election next year.
Mr Jefferson accused members of the PT of running a scheme of vote-buying and illegal campaign finance in a newspaper interview published on June 6. In subsequent evidence to Congress he admitted accepting R$4.1m ($1.8m) from the PT on behalf of the Brazilian Labour party (PTB). Mr Jefferson was president of the PTB until he stepped down after making his allegations.
One other congressman has resigned from Congress after being accused of taking bribes and a further 16 may be expelled after investigation by the House Ethics Committee. Several are expected to resign their mandates in advance.
Brazil’s central bank met market expectations by cutting its target rate by 0.25 percentage points to 19.5 per cent a year. It is the first cut since the central bank began raising rates in September 2004 to bring inflation under control.
Those who resign before proceedings against them begin will be free to run for re-election next year, while legislators who are expelled may not run for public office for the following eight years.
Those under investigation include seven members of the PT, including José Dirceu, formerly Mr Lula da Silva’s chief aide and a senior minister, who has been accused of orchestrating the scheme. Mr Dirceu, who has resigned his ministry, denies any involvement.
The corruption scandal has dominated Congress since May, when Mr Jefferson was accused of running a corruption scheme involving executives in the post office nominated by the PTB. Three separate congressional inquiries are investigating various allegations, leaving little time for the normal business of government.
Congressional business is likely to be further delayed over a separate scandal involving Severino Cavalcanti, president of the House. Mr Cavalcanti is accused of extorting bribes from a catering company operating in the Congress building when he was first secretary of Congress.
Mr Cavalcanti has denied any wrongdoing. But the evidence against him is compelling. He was widely expected to resign on Wednesday when the owner of the catering company produced a copy of a cheque for R$7,500 made out to Mr Cavalcanti’s secretary. The businessman claims to have made payments to Mr Cavalcanti totalling R$110,000 during 2002 and 2003.
Nevertheless, Mr Cavalcanti’s aides say he will defend himself against the allegations. Should Congress decide to expel him, the process will last 90 days and cause delays in the other investigations.
