Brazil's Dilma Rousseff rejects impeachment 'coup'

Brasilia, Aug 31 Brazil's sacked president Dilma Rousseff today branded the vote to remove her from office at an impeachment trial a "parliamentary coup" and vowed a comeback by her Workers' Party.

"They decided to interrupt the mandate of a president who had committed no crime. They have convicted an innocent person and carried out a parliamentary coup," she said.

She spoke surrounded by supporters after a majority of senators voted to remove her from office on the grounds she broke state accounting laws.

Her conservative rival Michel Temer was due to be sworn in as her replacement later today. "Temer out!" Rousseff's supporters yelled.

The impeachment vote ended 13 years of government by the leftist Workers' Party in Latin America's biggest economy. But senators fell short of the majority vote needed to bar Rousseff from public office.

"We will be back. We will be back to continue our course towards a Brazil in which the people are sovereign," Rousseff vowed.

AFP