Brazil sets final impeachment trial date for president

Saturday, 13 August, 2016 - 13:15

Brazil's Supreme Court announced Friday that the final impeachment trial of suspended President Dilma Rousseff will be held on August 25.

On August 10, the Senate voted 59-21 to move ahead with the trial, after a recommendation to do so by its impeachment committee.

Next week, Ricardo Lewandowski, the president of the Supreme Court, will meet with leaders of different political parties to determine the procedure of the trial and voting.

He will seek to broker a deal about the length of the sessions, the intervals and the time each senator will have to speak before casting their vote.

Expectations among analysts are that the trial will last under five days, although allies of interim president Michel Temer are seeking to reduce this period further.

A vote by two-thirds of the 81 senators (54 votes) are needed for Rousseff to be impeached and permanently removed from office.