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Text File | 1993-04-08 | 2KB | 40 lines

                                                                                THE WEEK, Page 20

WORLD

Exit Day for Collor?


By week's end he may be "suspended" as President of Brazil


    Fernando Collor De Mello used every trick in the book to
delay a vote on his impeachment in Brazil's Chamber of Deputies.
But last week the President suffered what might have been the
decisive blow. After a nine-hour televised hearing, Brazil's
Supreme Court ruled that the chamber had every right to schedule
the vote for this week and to make it a "nominal" ballot --
meaning that Deputies will have to declare themselves by name
for or against. Though it is still possible that Collor will
pull some last-second surprise, the odds are that the required
two-thirds of the 503 Deputies will vote, possibly Tuesday, to
put Collor on trial, and that by week's end Collor will
effectively be out. Officially he would be "suspended" for up
to 180 days while the Senate tries him on charges of receiving
bribes and kickbacks and votes on final removal from office.

    Vice President Itamar Franco would be sworn in as
President with a mandate of up to six months and face the
daunting tasks of cobbling together a government and reviving
a paralyzed economy. Nonetheless, Latin America's biggest nation
would display one sign of a mature democracy: for the first time
resolving a government crisis by strict constitutional means,
without military intervention. But it is too early for relief
that "the system works." Collor might confuse matters by trying
to exercise some authority as a shadow president while
suspended. And there is a slim chance that he will beat the
impeachment vote. Given his massive unpopularity, that could
trigger chaos in the streets.