Brazil court opens case that could unseat President

Brazil's top electoral court (TSE) reopened a case on Tuesday about illegal campaign funding by the Rousseff-Temer ticket that could annul their 2014 election victory and unseat President Michel Temer.

Less than a year after ousting his former running mate, Dilma Rousseff, the centre-right leader faces charges that he abused his power by using illegal campaign donations to win the vice-presidency in the 2014 election.

The opening of hearings by the supreme electoral tribunal on Tuesday comes amid the intensifying Car Wash graft purge that has forced several ministerial resignations, resulted in numerous jailings and seen the prosecutor general formally accuse the president of corruption and obstruction of justice.

Temer's opponents see a court ruling as a way out of a political crisis set off by corruption allegations leveled against the center-right leader, but a decision could take weeks if not months and can be appealed by Temer.

The case was postponed in April to allow for new evidence arising from Brazil's biggest ever corruption scandal involving billions of dollars in kickbacks paid by companies to scores of politicians and government officials.

The court's decision is key to deciding the political future of Brazil, where the prospect of having a second president ousted in one year has generated political volatility. The uncertainty has weakened the Brazilian currency, stocks and bonds in recent days.

If Temer is removed from office, lower house Speaker Rodrigo Maia would take over and Congress would have 30 days to pick a caretaker to lead the country until elections in late 2018.

Left-wing parties are calling for early general elections for Brazilians to pick a new president directly.

If Temer is found guilty, he is expected to appeal, which could delay the process for months.

Temer has refused to resign since the Supreme Court late last month authorised an investigation against him for alleged corruption, racketeering and obstruction of justice.

The investigation is based in part on a secret recording of a conversation with a JBS executive in which Temer appeared to agree to the payment of hush money to silence a key witness in a massive graft scandal.

The political crisis engulfing Temer's government deepened on Saturday with the arrest of a close aide, former lawmaker Rocha Loures, who was seen in a police video receiving a bag filled with 500,000 reais (€134,818) in cash.

The Supreme Court has given Temer until Friday to answers questions by federal police on his conversation with the JBS executive and whether Loures was a middleman.