Brasilia, November 20 (teleSUR-RHC)-- Brazil's controversial Speaker of Chamber of Deputies Eduardo Cunha told a gathering of lawmakers from his party that the momentum to impeach President Dilma Rousseff has been lost and that he would not consider opening proceedings until 2016.

Cunha made the comments last Wednesday during a dinner hosted in his home with members of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, known as the PMDB, but were revealed to the public on Thursday.

According to Hildo Rocha, a member of the lower house for the PMDB who was present at the dinner, Cunha would only take up impeachment proceedings if the Congress approves a ruling by country's Federal Accounts Court, known as the TCU.
    
Last month, the TCU alleged that the Rousseff's government had manipulated its accounts in 2014 to disguise a widening fiscal deficit as she campaigned for re-election. The TCU is an autonomous organ of the state, but its ruling in this case is not legally binding and must be confirmed by the Brazilian Congress.       

"If that happens, (Cunha) said that the launch of impeachment will come back in full force, but that this year there is no chance that will happen," Rocha told Folha de Sao Paulo. 
 
Cunha himself is embroiled in scandal over his alleged involvement in a complex corruption scandal involving the state-owned oil company Petrobras. Last month, the government of Switzerland confirmed that it had frozen the Cunha’s bank accounts and assets over suspected money laundering. A Brazilian federal court also seized 2.4 million Swiss francs from an account belonging to Cunha.

He is accused of received US$5 million in kickbacks between 2006 and 2012. Cunha has denied any wrongdoing, but Brazilian activists have still protested the lawmaker.  

Earlier this month, a group of five young activists associated with the Popular Youth Uprising showered the speaker with fake dollars in a protest stunt over his alleged role in a corruption scandal in Brazil.

Cunha is also facing a serious challenge to his position as speaker of the lower house. Brazilian political parties submitted a formal request to the Ethics Council of the Chamber of Deputies asking Cunha to be removed from his post.       

Cunha, once an ally of President Dilma Rousseff, left the governing coalition and has become one of the president's principal political enemies. As speaker of the lower house of the Brazilian Congress, Cunha controls if and when impeachment proceedings will begin against the sitting head-of-state.