THE lower house of Brazil’s Congress voted Tuesday to appoint a committee stacked with opponents of President Dilma Rousseff to study whether to impeach her for breaking budget rules, in a blow to the leftist leader battling for political survival.

    By secret ballot, lawmakers voted 272-199 for a list of committee members drawn up by the opposition and pro-impeachment members of the centrist Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), the biggest party in Rousseff’s governing coalition.

    It was a clear defeat for Rousseff in the first battle of an impeachment process started last week, which threatens to paralyze Congress for months, distracting policymakers from Brazil’s worst recession in decades.

    Controversy over the vote descended into chaos on the floor of the house, as lawmakers outraged by the secret ballot smashed an electronic voting urn, while pro-impeachment parties waved a flag in celebration of the win.

    Rousseff’s supporters in Congress appealed to the Supreme Court in protest of the voting procedure. Several newspapers reported near midnight local time that a Supreme Court justice had suspended impeachment proceedings for a week.

    The sweeping investigation into bribery at state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA threatened to further strain Rousseff’s fragile coalition Tuesday, as a veteran lawmaker in jail was reported to have decided to negotiate a plea bargain.

    (SD-Agencies)