Summary Supreme Court caused a hic-cup by ruling against technicalities in Cunha's procedural plan.
BRASILIA (AFP) - The controversial central figure in attempts to impeach Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said Wednesday he will appeal a Supreme Court decision putting the brakes on the opposition s push to unseat her.
Congressional lower house speaker Eduardo Cunha told reporters his appeal would be lodged "by Friday," potentially triggering a bruising battle that risks sending Latin America s biggest country from its current mix of instability and economic paralysis into full-blown crisis.
A powerful politician fighting allegations that he took a $5 million bribe and hid money in Swiss bank accounts, Cunha had been expected to open impeachment proceedings against Rousseff as early as this Tuesday.
However, the Supreme Court caused a hic-cup by ruling against technicalities in Cunha s procedural plan for setting the impeachment process in motion.
This gave Rousseff -- deeply unpopular less than a year into her second term, amid steep recession and a huge corruption scandal -- a breather as she scrambled to secure backers in Congress ahead of an eventual impeachment trial.
As speaker, Cunha has the power to shelve or green-light impeachment requests.
The current delay has fueled feverish speculation in the capital Brasilia over how Cunha will play his cards.
According to reports in the Brazilian media, Cunha might be seeking a deal or truce with Rousseff.
Under this, Cunha would supposedly hold off from launching impeachment proceedings in exchange for protection from his own opponents seeking to have him stripped of his speakership over the corruption allegations.
"The fact that I have to take decisions that some might see as a truce and others as a war is only a question of interpretation," Cunha said in response to the rumor.
Rousseff, who has been found by a court to have fiddled the nation s accounts ahead of her re-election last year, called the mounting impeachment threats "a coup."
Meanwhile, the opposition said it would file a new impeachment request with Cunha, alleging that Rousseff s illegal accounting maneuvers not only took place in 2014 but also in her current term -- a key point if the charges are to be used for impeachment.
