PSDB backs down and Aécio's coup attempt is on hold.

247 - The impeachment campaign that PSDB president Aécio Neves wants to lead has caused a split in the party's leadership and the isolation of the senator. The plan to remove President Dilma Rousseff from power was initially defended by Congressman Bruno Araújo (PSDB-PE), who said the idea was supported by a large part of the party's caucus, and only later by Aécio Neves.

In recent days, however, the party's main leader, former president Fernando Henrique Cardoso, said that the movement by the PSDB (Brazilian Social Democracy Party) towards impeachment was premature and made no sense. "Impeachment cannot be a thesis. It is up to the courts and the police to determine if there was an objective reason. Parties cannot anticipate all of this; it makes no sense. It's rash," he declared. Yesterday, he stated that the issue was not a priority for the PSDB and was less important than Operation Lava Jato.

After FHC, Senators José Serra (SP), Tasso Jereissati (CE), and Álvaro Dias (PR) were others who refused to join the initiative. According to political columnist Ilimar Franco of Globo, Serra has told members of his own party: "I wouldn't do it that way. There needs to be a fact. The fact hasn't happened yet. There wasn't the Fiat Elba," alluding to the car – bought with illicit money – that proved the relationship between former president Fernando Collor and the scams of treasurer PC Farias, which resulted in his impeachment.

In his column this Thursday, the 23rd, in Folha de S. Paulo, journalist Jânio de Freitas Aécio is becoming increasingly isolated. – "In the disarray of the PSDB, the impeachment issue pits Aécio Neves against the three main leaders of the party – Fernando Henrique, José Serra, and Geraldo Alckmin," he writes – and analyzes that the impeachment proposal could even threaten his candidacy for the presidency in 2018. "In his obsessive and angry drive to oust Dilma, Aécio has demonstrated how much of the political immaturity he retained from his time as governor of Minas Gerais in Rio," says Jânio.

Members of the PSDB party who requested an opinion from Miguel Reale Júnior to legally support their impeachment request met with the jurist yesterday and gave him more time to prepare the document. According to Ilimar Franco, Reale Jr. was also hesitant. He asked the PSDB for more time, arguing that it would be "hasty" to rush the preparation of an opinion that deserves detailed legal analysis.

Aécio stressed that the PSDB (Brazilian Social Democracy Party) will not lack the "courage" to present an impeachment request if it is proven that President Dilma committed a crime of responsibility. "The PSDB will not lack the necessary courage to, at the right moment, if the crimes now being reported are truly identified, we will act as the vast majority of Brazilians expect of us. We didn't even ask the jurist for a deadline. He is examining all these fronts," he said. He assured that the party will be "united" when making a decision on the matter.

The president of the PSDB downplayed the differing positions of fellow senators regarding impeachment. "It would be strange if there weren't any. These positions are increasingly converging. When the time comes to act, unity will be absolute. There is absolute convergence among us. We will not rush into anything, nor engage in any pamphleteering actions like the PT did in the past," said Aécio.