Peruvian lawmakers voted to impeach the Peruvian president Pedro Castillo, hours after he declared that he would dissolve Congress and rule the nation by decree. Congress was scheduled to debate castillo’s removal on corruption charges, and the president had said he would respect the process.
His surprising announcement during an unscheduled television address provoked widespread condemnation, massive resignations from his cabinet and led the deputies to advance the vote. Castillo, 53, said he would rule by decree until new elections for a constituent assembly could be held, a process he said would take place in nine months.
“In line with the citizen demand of the entire country, we have taken the decision to establish an emergency government aimed at establishing the rule of law and democracy,” he said. He also declared a nightly curfew. But he had neither the constitutional authority nor the political support to carry the system and it was more of a desperate gamble to evade impeachment and criminal prosecution.
His impeachment attorney resigned. Opponents and some allies called it a coup attempt. “Nothing that former president #PedroCastillo has announced is allowed by the constitution,” wrote Fernando Tuesta, former head of the Peruvian electoral agency. “If before it had limited legitimacy, now it has lost all sense of legality. He is usurping power and no obedience is due to him,” he added.
Lawmakers voted to charge Castillo with “moral incapacity” and declared the presidency vacant. According to the constitution, the vice president Dina Boluarte It will happen: she had already denounced him before for “breaking the constitutional order by closing Congress”, in a tweet.
“This is a coup that deepens the political and institutional crisis, and itPeruvian society will have to emerge from the crisis with strict adherence to the law”. Castillo is accused of taking bribes and selling jobs in the public bureaucracy, and analysts believe he will end up in pretrial detention.
by RN
