SUSPENDED Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff revealed on Tuesday that, if she is returned to office, she wants new elections to help the country emerge from its political crisis.

Ms Rousseff said that Brazil was experiencing a political “weariness” and that many citizens no longer believe in the process.
“This has to be overcome,” she said in the Alvorada presidential palace.

“If there need to be new elections, I would be in favour.”

She floated the idea of a plebiscite on her mandate, though she didn’t provide details on how it would work.

“I don’t have any problem asking what the people want. In any case, the only way that a president’s mandate should be interrupted is via a plebiscite.”

Getting to new elections before 2018, the end of Ms Rousseff’s term, would be a tall order, requiring the resignation or removal from office of both her and her coup replacement Michel Temer.

Mr Temer’s political allies, many of whom are intent on quashing an investigation into allegations of their own involvement in corruption scandals, have rejected growing calls for new elections.

Mr Temer himself can’t stand for public office for eight years as he broke election law.

A series of financial scandals hounding his fledgling administration have led to some senators saying publicly that they might rethink their vote.

These have included leaked recordings of Temer allies discussing how to scale down the corruption probe at state oil firm Petrobras, strengthening Ms Rousseff’s contention that suspending her was about that not about sleight-of-hand accounting manoeuvres.

Ms Rousseff was impeached for allegedly using fiscal tricks to hide yawning gaps in the federal budget, but she has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, insisting that the proceedings were a “fraud” and a “coup” plotted by allies turned enemies.

The Senate voted 55-22 last month to remove the president, one more vote than would be necessary during the trial to remove her permanently.

Ms Rousseff said that she spends her days strategising with activists and friendly Congress members about how to change senators’ minds.

She added that she is working on a letter of intentions to be published sometime before the impeachment trial, offering a new platform should she be returned to office.