Categories: World News

Peru President Ousted After Bid To Dissolve Congress

This handout picture released by Administracion de Justicia Peruana (Peru’s Justice Administration) shows impeached President Pedro Castillo (C) speaking with Peruvian prosecutors (R) after the Congress voted his impeachment, in Lima, on December 7, 2022. (Photo by – / Administracion de Justicia Peruana / AFP)

 

Peru’s leftist leader Pedro Castillo was impeached and replaced as president on Wednesday in a dizzying series of events in the country that has long been prone to political upheaval.

Dina Boluarte, a 60-year-old lawyer, was sworn in as Peru’s first female president just hours after Castillo tried to wrest control of the legislature in a move criticised as an attempted coup.

The day of high drama began with Castillo facing his third impeachment attempt in almost 18 months of power.

However, in a televised address to the nation, the 53-year-old announced that he was dissolving the opposition-dominated Congress, installing a curfew, and would rule by decree.

As criticism poured in over the address, lawmakers defiantly gathered earlier than planned to debate the impeachment motion and approved it, with 101 votes out of a total of 130 lawmakers.

Castillo, a former school teacher, was impeached for his “moral incapacity” to exercise power, after a litany of crises including six corruption investigations against him and his family, five cabinet reshuffles and large protests.

The constitutional provision allows impeachment proceedings to be brought against a president based on the subjective premise of political rather than legal wrongdoing, and has made impeachments commonplace in Peru.

Castillo became the third president since 2018 to be sacked under the “moral incapacity” provision in the constitution.

After months of power struggles with Congress, Castillo told the nation that “his intolerable situation cannot continue.”

He said he would convene a new Congress to draft a new constitution within nine months.

However, after the impeachment vote, Castillo left the presidential palace with a bodyguard, heading to the Lima police headquarters where he remained.

Images released by the Peruvian prosecutor’s office showed Castillo in a room surrounded by prosecutors and police, without clarifying his legal situation.

– ‘Now former president’ –

House speaker Jose Williams Zapata criticized Castillo for trying to “dissolve Congress and impede its function in an unconstitutional manner.”

Hundreds of protesters had gathered in front of Congress ahead of the vote.

“We are tired of this corrupt government that was stealing from day one,” said 51-year-old Johana Salazar.

Ricardo Palomino, 50, a systems engineer, said Castillo’s attempt to dissolve parliament was “totally unacceptable and unconstitutional. It went against everything and these are the consequences.”

Ahead of the impeachment decision, the United States demanded Castillo “reverse his decision”, before saying it no longer considered him to be the president.

“My understanding is that, given the action of the Congress, he is now former president Castillo,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters, saying lawmakers took “corrective action” in line with democratic rules.

Castillo’s failed effort to fend off the impeachment bid comes more than 30 years after then-president Alberto Fujimori suspended the constitution and dissolved Congress in April 1992.

“President Pedro Castillo has carried out a coup. He has violated Article 117 of the Peruvian Constitution and has become illegal. This is a self-coup,” political analyst Augusto Alvarez told AFP of the bid to dissolve Congress.

“Today, there has been 20th century-style coup. It is a coup destined to fail, Peru wants to live in a democracy. This coup d’etat has no legal basis,” the president of the Constitutional Court, Francisco Morales, told the RPP radio station.

AFP

Kayode Oyero

Disqus Comments Loading...
Share
Published by
Kayode Oyero

Recent Posts

VIDEO: Escape Of Binance Executive From An Embarrassment, Says Ubani

The Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) confirmed Anjarwalla's escape from its custody earlier…

53 seconds ago

Russian Court Orders Journalist In Navalny’s Case Detained

She had originally been detained hours after visiting Navalny's grave in southern Moscow during the…

32 mins ago

Blackouts Hit Three Ukrainian Regions After Russian Air Attack

President Volodymyr Zelensky has called the attacks "energy terrorism" and the United Nations has described…

45 mins ago

Turkey’s Erdogan To Hold White House Talks With Biden In May

Turkey has profited from maintaining trade with Moscow while at the same time supplying Ukraine…

1 hour ago

Liverpool Target Xabi Alonso Says Staying As Leverkusen Coach

The 42-year-old Spaniard has Leverkusen on course for a trophy treble, including their first-ever German…

1 hour ago

Madagascar’s Parliament Chief Stripped Of Post

The court decision removing Christine Razanamahasoa, 72, from the National Assembly was published Thursday evening,…

1 hour ago