Government supporters accuse the opposition of trying to oust President Dilma Rousseff through a parliamentary coup.
Brazil's Supreme Court issued an injunction Tuesday, freezing efforts by opposition parties and the embattled head of the lower house of Congress to begin impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff.
The speaker of the lower house Eduardo Cunha insisted that he would continue to review impeachment requests despite the injunction.
"The decision on impeachment requests is a constitutional prerogative I have and it is not being questioned. I continue to have this prerogative and I will use it," said Cunha who himself is under investigation by Brazilian authorities for money laundering.
At issue is the constitutionality of the impeachment process. As speaker of the lower house, Cunha has stated that he has the power to decide the steps and introduced a document several months ago to this affect. Pro-government law makers believe that any process should follow Brazilian law number 1.079 / 1950, which outlines the legal means to address allegations of wrongdoing by state officials.
The Supreme Court agreed with a petition submitted by a lawmaker from Rousseff's Workers Party that current efforts by Cunha to single-handedly proceed with impeachment should be frozen as it could violate the constitution.
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