Brasilia, Apr 19 (IANS): Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has expressed indignation after the lower house of parliament voted to open an impeachment process against her.

The process lacked legal basis and she did not commit the crime of fiscal irresponsibility of which she has been accused, said Rousseff on Monday.

The Rousseff government claimed that the fiscal manoeuvres of which she is accused did not constitute a crime of fiscal irresponsibility and that the impeachment process resulting from that basis is, in fact, a coup attempt, Xinhua reported.

Rousseff said she was disappointed at the fact that the actual accusation was not discussed during the entire session in the chamber of deputies.

"Injustice always occurs when the defence process is smashed and when, in an absurd manner, first someone is accused of something that is not a crime, and then no one refers to the problem," she said.

Rousseff claimed that the fiscal manoeuvres were practiced by past presidents too and were never considered illegal.

"I feel indignation and injustice... Those acts were based in technical reports and none of them directly benefits me. These are not acts through which I got rich illicitly," she said.

As the chamber opened the impeachment process on Sunday, it will then head to the Senate.

From the moment the Senate accepts the impeachment process, Rousseff is temporarily removed and Vice President Michel Temer becomes interim president.

He is considered one of the masterminds of the impeachment process.