Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage captionThe opposition has stepped up its campaign against Dilma Rousseff
Another coalition partner of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has announced it is quitting, dealing a further blow to her bid to stave off impeachment.
The Progressive Party (PP) said most of its 47 MPs would vote for Ms Rousseff to be impeached.
Last month the PMDB, the largest party in Brazil's governing coalition, also voted to leave.
Ms Rousseff, who faces an impeachment vote in the lower house on Sunday, says her opponents are plotting a "coup".
They claim she manipulated accounts to hide Brazil's growing deficit ahead of her election campaign two years ago. She denies this and her supporters say the issue is not valid grounds for impeachment anyway.
Could Rousseff be impeached?
Critical month for Rousseff
What has gone wrong in Brazil?
Rousseff faces a perfect storm
A PP spokeswoman told AFP news agency on Tuesday:"The party decided to withdraw from the... alliance, by majority decision."
The PP is the fourth-largest party in the 513-seat lower house but it is not clear how its departure from the government might affect Sunday's vote.
A two-thirds majority - 342 MPs - is needed to send the impeachment case to the Senate.
A recent poll, before the PP's announcement, showed 300 in favour of impeachment and 125 opposed, leaving 88 MPs still undecided or not stating their position.
Earlier on Tuesday, Ms Rousseff suggested that Vice-President Michel Temer was one of the ringleaders of the "coup" attempt against her.
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Out of media player. Press enter to return or tab to continue.Media captionBrazil political crisis: Why Dilma Rousseff faces impeachment calls
She said a widely distributed audio message of Mr Temer appearing to accept replacing her as president, was evidence of the conspiracy. However, she did not identify him by name.
"They now are conspiring openly, in the light of day, to destabilise a legitimately elected president," Ms Rousseff said.
She referred to "the chief and... the vice-chief" of the plot, an apparent reference to Mr Temer and lower house speaker Eduardo Cunha.
Brazil is "living in strange times", she said, "times of a coup, of farce and betrayal".
Mr Temer has said that the message was released by accident.
Image copyrightReutersImage captionPresident Rousseff denies the accusations against her
Speaking in an interview with the conservative Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper on Tuesday, Mr Temer argued that he had spent weeks away from the capital Brasilia specifically so that no-one could accuse him of plotting behind the scenes.
On Monday evening, amid rowdy scenes, a 65-member congressional committee voted 38 to 27 to recommend going ahead with impeachment proceedings.
MPs are due to start debating on Friday, officials said, with voting beginning on Sunday at about 14:00 (17:00 GMT). The result should be known later in the evening.
Security is expected to be stepped up around the Congress building in Brasilia as the vote takes place.
While President Rousseff's opponents say the impeachment is supported by most Brazilians, the president's supporters have labelled it a flagrant power grab by her political enemies.
If the president and Mr Temer are both suspended from office, the next in line to assume the presidency is Mr Cunha.
However, he is facing money-laundering and other charges.
Where did it go wrong? Daniel Gallas, Sao Paulo
Image copyrightReuters
From billions being stolen from state oil giant Petrobras by private construction firms and politicians, to a powerful senator negotiating for a key witness to flee from jail, the country has been rife with jaw-dropping corruption revelations.
Yet with all the investigations, one person has managed to keep a fairly clean record - President Dilma Rousseff.
Ms Rousseff's personal record on corruption may be untarnished so far - but her handling of the economy has been highly controversial. And this is the argument the opposition has been advancing to get her impeached.
Making what critics say are bad decisions on the economy is not a crime. But one of the measures taken by Ms Rousseff and her team back in 2014 was deemed illegal by a federal court.
Brazilian governments are required to meet budget surplus targets set in Congress. Ms Rousseff is accused of allowing creative accounting techniques involving loans from public banks to the treasury that artificially enhanced the budget surplus.
Another coalition partner of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has announced it is quitting, dealing a further blow to her bid to stave off impeachment.
The Progressive Party (PP) said most of its 47 MPs would vote for Ms Rousseff to be impeached.
Last month the PMDB, the largest party in Brazil's governing coalition, also voted to leave.
Ms Rousseff, who faces an impeachment vote in the lower house on Sunday, says her opponents are plotting a "coup".
They claim she manipulated accounts to hide Brazil's growing deficit ahead of her election campaign two years ago. She denies this and her supporters say the issue is not valid grounds for impeachment anyway.
Could Rousseff be impeached?
Critical month for Rousseff
What has gone wrong in Brazil?
Rousseff faces a perfect storm
A PP spokeswoman told AFP news agency on Tuesday:"The party decided to withdraw from the... alliance, by majority decision."
The PP is the fourth-largest party in the 513-seat lower house but it is not clear how its departure from the government might affect Sunday's vote.
A two-thirds majority - 342 MPs - is needed to send the impeachment case to the Senate.
A recent poll, before the PP's announcement, showed 300 in favour of impeachment and 125 opposed, leaving 88 MPs still undecided or not stating their position.
Earlier on Tuesday, Ms Rousseff suggested that Vice-President Michel Temer was one of the ringleaders of the "coup" attempt against her.
Jump media player
Media player help
Out of media player. Press enter to return or tab to continue.Media captionBrazil political crisis: Why Dilma Rousseff faces impeachment calls
She said a widely distributed audio message of Mr Temer appearing to accept replacing her as president, was evidence of the conspiracy. However, she did not identify him by name.
"They now are conspiring openly, in the light of day, to destabilise a legitimately elected president," Ms Rousseff said.
She referred to "the chief and... the vice-chief" of the plot, an apparent reference to Mr Temer and lower house speaker Eduardo Cunha.
Brazil is "living in strange times", she said, "times of a coup, of farce and betrayal".
Mr Temer has said that the message was released by accident.
Image copyrightReutersImage captionPresident Rousseff denies the accusations against herSpeaking in an interview with the conservative Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper on Tuesday, Mr Temer argued that he had spent weeks away from the capital Brasilia specifically so that no-one could accuse him of plotting behind the scenes.
On Monday evening, amid rowdy scenes, a 65-member congressional committee voted 38 to 27 to recommend going ahead with impeachment proceedings.
MPs are due to start debating on Friday, officials said, with voting beginning on Sunday at about 14:00 (17:00 GMT). The result should be known later in the evening.
Security is expected to be stepped up around the Congress building in Brasilia as the vote takes place.
While President Rousseff's opponents say the impeachment is supported by most Brazilians, the president's supporters have labelled it a flagrant power grab by her political enemies.
If the president and Mr Temer are both suspended from office, the next in line to assume the presidency is Mr Cunha.
However, he is facing money-laundering and other charges.
Where did it go wrong? Daniel Gallas, Sao Paulo
Image copyrightReutersFrom billions being stolen from state oil giant Petrobras by private construction firms and politicians, to a powerful senator negotiating for a key witness to flee from jail, the country has been rife with jaw-dropping corruption revelations.
Yet with all the investigations, one person has managed to keep a fairly clean record - President Dilma Rousseff.
Ms Rousseff's personal record on corruption may be untarnished so far - but her handling of the economy has been highly controversial. And this is the argument the opposition has been advancing to get her impeached.
Making what critics say are bad decisions on the economy is not a crime. But one of the measures taken by Ms Rousseff and her team back in 2014 was deemed illegal by a federal court.
Brazilian governments are required to meet budget surplus targets set in Congress. Ms Rousseff is accused of allowing creative accounting techniques involving loans from public banks to the treasury that artificially enhanced the budget surplus.
Source: BBC
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