A simmering scandal in Brazil’s senate is likely to come to a head on Monday when President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is expected to meet José Sarney, president of the senate and a key figure in the governing coalition, to decide his political future.

If, as many expect, Mr Sarney – a former national president – resigns the senate presidency amid a spate of accusations of improper behaviour, he will leave Mr Lula da Silva facing a crisis of governability in the run-up to the 2010 general election, with the president entering the final stages of his second consecutive four-year term.