The impeachment process against Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff was abruptly halted after the leader of Brazil's Lower House agreed to annul last month's vote by legislators to put her on trial.
The surprise announcement came just ahead of an impeachment vote in Brazil's Senate on Thursday that was likely to suspend Rousseff from office.
Congressman Waldir Maranhão, the interim speaker of Brazil's chamber of deputies, said in a statement that he decided to accept a request by Attorney-General José Cardozo to annul the April 17 vote to put Rousseff on trial, citing procedural irregularities. Maranhão said MPs should not have announced their votes in advance, and should not have been told how to vote by party leaders.
"For these reasons I annulled the session....and decided that a new session should take place," Maranhão said, adding that he'd asked the president of Brazil's Senate to return the impeachment measure to the Lower House for a new vote. He did not set a date, but said the vote would take place within five legislative sessions.
But the head of the Senate, Renan Calheiros, said he had rejected the decision and that a vote in the Upper House on whether to put Rousseff on trial would continue as scheduled.