The Peruvian Congress, dominated by the right-wing opposition, agreed on Monday to debate an impeachment motion against leftist president Pedro Castillo, similar to those that led to the falls of former leaders Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, in 2018, and Martín Vizcarra, in 2020.
“The motion has been admitted [for debate], announced the head of Congress, the opposition María del Carmen Alva, after the initiative was approved by 76 votes, 41 against and one abstention.
Alva proposed that the fate of the president be decided by the plenary in this impeachment trial on Monday, March 28, starting at 3:00 p.m. local (20:00 GMT), which was accepted by his colleagues. Castillo may attend this session to present his disclaimers or send a lawyer to represent him.
This is the second “vacancy motion” against Castillo in the seven and a half months he has been in power. In December, Congress dismissed the first.
The request was submitted by 50 congressmen from the right-wing parties Renewal Popular, Avanza País and Fuerza Popular (Fujimorista), with the support of legislators from other benches.
The opposition alleges Castillo's “moral incapacity” and needed 52 votes, out of a total of 130, to be accepted for debate.
If he is removed, power would be assumed by his vice-president, Dina Boluarte. But experts doubt that opponents will be able to cross the threshold of the necessary 87 votes, according to the Constitution.
“President Pedro Castillo must give immediate explanations to the country for its repeated misconduct,” said ultra-conservative legislator Jorge Montoya, a retired admiral, in substantiating the motion.
“Mr. Castillo himself has publicly acknowledged that he is not ready for office,” he added.
But Waldemar Cerrón, head of the bench of the ruling party Peru Libre, said that Congress is “wasting time” in these debates. The formation announced that its 37 parliamentarians will reject the motion.
- Castillo will speak before Congress -
On Tuesday, Castillo will attend Congress on a separate issue: to give a speech on the state of the nation.
According to the opposition, the president is splattered by the alleged corruption of his environment and committed a “betrayal of the homeland” for declaring himself open to a referendum to decide a trip to the sea to neighboring Bolivia.
“The accusation of treason is meaningless. They are looking for any way to end the Castillo government,” political scientist Fernando Tuesta said at a conference with the foreign press.
“There are not enough votes to get it out, nor are there street mobilizations to get it out,” Tuesta stressed.
The president's disapproval fell to 66% in March, three points lower than in February, when it reached its highest level (69%), but even more discredited is Congress, which accumulates a rejection of 70%, according to Ipsos poll.
- Celac asks to respect popular vote -
The clash of powers between the Executive and the Legislative in Peru once again transcended borders and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) called for respect for the “popular will”.
The rotating president of CELAC, the Argentine Alberto Fernández, expressed over the weekend “his concern about the institutional situation in Peru”.
He also emphasized “the need for respect for the democratic order and the popular will expressed in favor of President Pedro Castillo”.
Bolivian President Luis Arce expressed his support for Castillo on Twitter, stating that he was “elected by popular vote in a process that witnessed Latin America.”
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, an autonomous body of the OAS, had warned on December 10 of its concern over the way in which Peru's “presidential vacancy due to moral incapacity” has been distorted due to the “lack of objective definition” that figure has, which causes “impact (...) on the democratic institutionality” of the country.
The President of Mexico, Andrés López Obrador, had also denounced in December that in Peru there was “a kind of preparation for an overthrow” launched by conservatism.
Castillo's possible removal has been in the air since his election in June, when his rivals denounced “fraud” despite the endorsement of his victory by observers from the OAS and the European Union.
The opposition accuses Castillo, a 52-year-old rural teacher who took office July 28 for five years, of being aimless and criticized his constant ministerial crises.
- Sixth motion in five years -
This is the sixth motion to impeach a president of Peru since 2017. Similar requests led to the fall of Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (right) in 2018 and Martín Vizcarra (center) in 2020.
The fall of Vizcarra sparked protests, repressed with two dead and a hundred injured. His departure led to Peru having three presidents in five days.
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