Brazil's Senate begins Dilma Rousseff impeachment debate which could lead to the president being suspended

Senators in Brazil have started a debate on whether to oust President Dilma Rousseff, a movement that has built up steam and turned into a referendum on her leadership amid several crises facing Latin America's largest nation.

If a simple majority of the 81 senators vote in favor, Ms Rousseff will be suspended from office and Vice President Michel Temer will take over for up to six months pending a decision on whether to remove her from office permanently.

Senate President Renan Calheiros has said he wants the vote to happen on Wednesday night.

The vote in the Senate will decide whether an impeachment case against Ms Rousseff is accepted, a move which would mean Ms Rousseff being put on trial for allegedly breaking fiscal rules in her management of the national budget.

If Ms Rousseff were convicted and removed definitively, Mr Temer would stay in the post until elections in 2018.

Ms Rousseff denies any wrongdoing and insists the impeachment amounts to a “coup” aimed at removing her left-leaning Workers' Party, in power for 13 years

The way was cleared for the session in the Senate after the acting speaker of the lower house of Brazil's Congress, Waldir Maranhao, reversed a controversial decision to annul another key vote in the impeachment process against Ms Rousseff. .

On Monday, Mr Maranhao orginially sought to annul a 367-137 vote, taken in the Chamber of Deputies in April, to oust Ms Rousseff, which sent the matter from the to the Senate for a possible trial.

Senate President Renan Calheiros said on Monday that Mr Maranhao was “playing with democracy” and vowed the Senate would press ahead with Wednesday's vote. It is expected to take place at the end of an all-day session of speeches.

Mr Marahnao's spokesman Marcos Alberto said on Tuesday that the acting speaker reversed the decision just over 12 hours after he had originally announced it.

Such reversals are a staple of Brazilian politics, and the impeachment drama has been filled with such dramatic turns.

Later on Tuesday Ms Rousseff took her battle to survive impeachment to the Supreme Court. Attorney General Eduardo Cardozo, the government's top lawyer, asked the Supreme Court to annul impeachment proceedings, his office said.

The impeachment proceedings come as Brazil is grappling with its worst recession in decades, a continuing corruption probe that already has embroiled top politicians and prominent businessmen, and an outbreak of the Zika virus. At the same time, the country's showcase city, Rio de Janeiro, is gearing up to host the Olympics in August.

Ms Rousseff's once-overwhelming public support has eroded with the onslaught of bad news, with her approval ratings dipping into the single digits in recent months. While polls have suggested broad public support for her impeachment, they have also pointed to widespread worry about who might replace her.

Mr Maranhao had argued that the lower house vote last month was riddled with irregularities, including party leaders telling members how to vote.

Speaking on Monday, Mr Maranhao said the vote was “We are not, nor will we ever be, joking around with how we make democracy.”

Ms Rousseff is battling impeachment over allegations that her government violated fiscal rules, in what critics say was a bid to artificially bolster the country's flagging economy. Ms Rousseff denies all allegations against her. She has previously said that prior presidents used such fiscal manoeuvres and that the impeachment effort amounts to a “coup” aimed at removing her and her left-leaning Workers' Party, which has governed the country for 13 years.

Ms Rousseff reacted cautiously to Mr Maranhao's initial announcement before it was reversed, suggesting it was not entirely clear what was happening.

“We have a difficult fight ahead of us,” she said at an event about education. She also called for caution, saying that “we live in a time of cunning and wile.”

Mr Maranhao took over the reins in the Chamber of Deputies after former Speaker Eduardo Cunha, who was the driving force behind the impeachment effort, was suspended over corruption and obstruction of justice allegations against him, something he denies.

The head of the Brazilian Order of Attorneys, Claudio Lamachia, said the organisation “regards the decision with extreme worry.”

“This sort of action responds to the momentary interests of certain political groups but ignores legitimate decisions that have already been made,” Mr Lamachia said.

AP; Reuters