BRASÍLIA — Brazil’s lower house of congress voted on Monday to oust its former speaker, Eduardo Cunha, who spearheaded the drive to impeach president Dilma Rousseff only to suffer his own graft-stained downfall.Cunha — who is often compared to the dark, manipulative villain Frank Underwood of the hit Netflix series House of Cards — was stripped of his seat in the chamber of deputies by a resounding vote of 450 in favour, 10 against and nine abstentions. "I declare law maker Eduardo Cunha stripped of office for conduct incompatible with lawmakers’ duties," read the decision at the end of the session.Cunha, a 57-year-old conservative allied with the Evangelical Christian right, was a central figure in Brazil’s long impeachment drama.His enemies accuse him of using his power to launch impeachment proceedings as a trump card to stave off his own prosecution for allegedly taking millions of dollars in bribes.He resigned as speaker in July amid swirling accusations of corruption linked to...
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