Five Brazilian congressmen announced Thursday, April 6, that they were resigning from the House of Representatives (Chamber of Deputies) Ethics Council.
They are: Júlio Delgado (PSB party, Minas Gerais state), Chico Alencar (PSOL, Rio de Janeiro), Orlando Fantazzini (PSOL, São Paulo), Cézar Schirmer (PMDB, Rio Grande do Sul) and Benedito de Lira (PP, Alagoas).
And then another nine congressmen announced they were taking a leave of absence from the council. All this to protest votes on the chamber floor absolving deputies that the council has recommended for expulsion.
Deputy Delgado pointed out that the council is technical and makes profound investigations before issuing a recommendation.
The mass exit of deputies from the council comes on the heels of a floor vote that absolved deputy João Paulo Cunha (PT, São Paulo), after the Ethics Council recommended his expulsion by a vote of 9 to 5.
ABr