BRASILIA (Reuters) - The Supreme Court justice who suspended impeachment proceedings against Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff last week has unexpectedly shown support for a secret ballot in Congress that hurt her chances of blocking the process, media reported on Wednesday.
A copy of Judge Luiz Fachin's recommendation, obtained by the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper and the GloboNews 24-hour cable news channel, showed he will argue before the Supreme Court on Wednesday that the secret vote was legitimate.
The 11-member Supreme Court must still rule on the secret ballot, and the decision could go against Fachin's opinion. A court official told Reuters a decision was unlikely before Thursday as there was likely to be a lengthy discussion.
The impeachment proceedings, started this month by Rousseff's archenemy, lower house Speaker Eduardo Cunha, risk plunging Brazil deeper into political turmoil as the government struggles to tackle the deepest recession since the early 1990s.
The secret ballot in the lower house, convened by Cunha, allowed members of Rousseff's fragile ruling coalition to break ranks and vote against the unpopular president. Opponents of Rousseff were able to approve an impeachment committee stacked with legislators hostile to her.
However, Fachin stepped in to prevent the impeachment committee from meeting, pending a Supreme Court ruling.
If the committee gives the green light to impeachment proceedings, two-thirds of entire lower house must vote to move ahead with them. Rousseff would then be tried before the Senate, which would also require a two-thirds majority to remove her from office.
GloboNews reported that Fachin also rejected a proposal that the Senate, which is seen as more favourable to Rousseff, should have the authority to dismiss the impeachment process even if the lower chamber approves it.
If the court takes that position, the Senate would have to start impeachment hearings after the lower house approves them. Rousseff would be suspended as president, with Vice President Michel Temer taking over during the Senate trial.
Folha, however, said Fachin favoured allowing a Senate committee to decide whether to suspend the president during the trial.