A “political coup” is being waged in Brazil, according to former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, referring to the impeachment process being carried out against President Dilma Rousseff and the ruling left-wing Workers' Party.

In an exclusive interview with The Intercept, Glenn Greenwald pushes Lula to explain why he has referred to Rousseff's impeachment proceedings as a “coup,” since it is being carried out under the authority of the Supreme Court.

Lula explains that the process is in fact a “political coup” because “these people want to remove Dilma from office by disrespecting the law.”

“While the Brazilian Constitution allows for an impeachment, it is necessary for the person to have committed what we call high crimes and misdemeanors. And President Dilma did not commit a high crime or a misdemeanor,” said Lula. “Therefore what is happening is an attempt by some to take power by disrespecting the popular vote.”

Those seeking to impeach President Rousseff are claiming that Rousseff's government had manipulated state accounts in 2014 to disguise a widening fiscal deficit as she campaigned for re-election. However the president has not been found guilty of any wrongdoing.

“Anyone who wants to become president, instead of trying to take down the president, can run in an election. I ran three of them and didn’t get angry,” added the former president and founder of the PT party.

Lula and Greenwald continued to discuss corruption within Brazilian politics, the right-wing media campaign against the left, and other social issues in the country. Watch the full interview below.