he fall of Dilma Rousseff from being one of the most popular politicians to an impeached leader is

much more than a story of a corrupt President being stripped of her powers by a righteous
legislature. The exit of Brazils first woman President brings the 13-year rule of the left-leaning
Workers Party (PT) to an end. The charge levelled against her is that she used illegal
bookkeeping manoeuvres to hide a growing deficit. Though this is a crime in Brazil, several of
those who piloted the impeachment process in Congress have themselves been charged with
corrupt practices. Almost all the leading political parties, including new President Michel Temers
Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, were implicated in the Petrobras corruption scandal. Ms.
Rousseff is in fact one of the very few high-profile politicians not to be implicated in the
Petrobras scam. Moreover, her presidency was not quite the failure it is made to appear as. She
completed her first term and was re-elected in 2014 with a clear majority. Through all this, she
purposefully continued the welfare programmes initiated by her predecessor, Luiz Inacio Lula da
Silva, particularly in the education, health and housing sectors.
To understand Ms. Rousseffs fall, one has to look instead at the complex layers of Brazils polity.
It is a comparatively young democracy in which the PT rose to power defying established
structures. The power struggle within Brazils political class has never been a settled affair. When
Mr. da Silva was President, he was able to keep in check the class interests stacked against him
with his immense popularity. Ms. Rousseff not only lacked his charisma and mass appeal, but
also failed to right the economy when a steep fall in global commodity prices hit Brazil hard. The
consequences were devastating: for instance, the Brazilian economy grew 7.6 per cent in 2010,
the year she won her first term; it is estimated to contract 3.2 per cent this year. It is amid this
economic gloom and nationwide anger against corrupt politicians in the wake of the Petrobras
scandal that her opponents used the charges of fudging books to build a case for impeachment.
But the impeachment doesnt solve the problems Brazil faces. The economy is still in the
doldrums, and is unlikely to bounce back in the near future given the global headwinds. President
Temer is as unpopular as Ms. Rousseff had become, as was evident from the loud boos he
received from spectators at the opening ceremony of the Rio Olympics. Brazils opposition may
have gained power after a long wait through a parliamentary coup, but the political and economic
turmoil is likely to remain for long.
Keywords: Dilma Rousseff, Workers Party, Michel Temer, Brazilian Democratic Movement
Party, Petrobras scam
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