REGIME CHANGE IN BRAZIL
READ BEFORE YOU PROCEED:
D2G wears no responsibility of the views published here by the respective Author. This Editorial is used here for Study Purpose. Students are advised to learn the word-meaning, The Art of Writing Skills and understand the crux of this Editorial.
MEANINGS are given in BOLD and ITALIC
It is a coup (When there is a coup, a group of people seize power in a country – तख्तापलट ) by another name. With the suspension of President Dilma Rousseff from office on Thursday through a Senate impeachment (The impeachment of a senior official is the process of charging them with a crime which makes them unfit for office – दोषारोपण ) vote, the Brazilian opposition has secured a rare political victory. The impeachment, approved with a 55-22 majority, brings to an end 13 years of rule by the Workers Party (PT). It also puts Ms. Rousseff’s political future in limbo (If you say that someone or something is in limbo, you mean that they are in a situation where they seem to be caught between two stages and it is unclear what will happen next – जेल [meaning is different here]) as she now has to weather the impeachment trial, which could last up to six months and will determine if she may or may not regain the presidency.
While the opposition politicians are understandably happy with the outcome, the impeachment is likely to deepen Brazil’s political crisis at a time when the country needs a stable administration to cope with the enormous challenges it faces, especially the current economic crisis, and chronic corruption. Certainly, Ms. Rousseff could have done more to lead her country out of this situation. Her government was ill-prepared to cope with the challenges of the global drop in commodity prices, which hit Brazil’s export-dependent economy particularly hard. Some of the measures she took, such as cutting public expenditure to control deficit, were counter-productive as they drove the PT’s traditional base, the working people, away from her. Besides, she could do little to check the pervasive (Something, especially something bad, that is pervasive is present or felt throughout a place or thing – व्यापक ) corruption within the PT. The question of course is whether such political failures warrant an impeachment. Also, will the forcible removal of Ms. Rousseff help address any of the major problems Brazil faces now?
Those who support the impeachment, politicians and others, say it is a fight against corruption and Ms. Rousseff’s economic ineptitude (If you refer to someone’s ineptitude, you are criticizing them because they do something with a complete lack of skill – अयोग्यता ). This line of reasoning has at least two problems. First, she has not been implicated in any corruption case. Ironically, Vice-President Michel Temer, who will now take over as acting President, has been named in a Petrobras bribery scandal. According to surveys, only 2 per cent of Brazilians support him for President, while 60 per cent favour his impeachment. Even the head of the Senate and the man who oversaw the impeachment vote, Renan Calheiros, is the subject of 11 criminal probes.
Second, it is not clear what kind of changes the incoming acting President can bring about to rescue Brazil’s economy from a free fall and to stabilise its politics — given that he faces corruption charges and has no popular mandate. Though Ms. Rousseff is unpopular, the PT still commands respect among large sections of Brazil’s poor. If the PT continues its street protests against the impeachment, which have at times turned violent, that would make it that much more difficult for Mr. Temer to establish credible authority. The best, and the democratic, way out of this crisis would be to call fresh elections and let the people decide who should be the next President. He or she could start afresh on the basis of a new mandate. Unfortunately, Brazil’s political elite (You can refer to the most powerful, rich, or talented people within a particular group, place, or society as the elite – अभिजात वर्ग ) appear to be more interested in political manoeuvring (If you manoeuvre something into or out of an awkward position, you skilfully move it there – पैंतरेबाज़ी ) than in addressing the real issues.
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No Exercise for today!!
