In a whirlwind of events on Wednesday in the long-prone to political unrest nation of Peru, Marxist leader Pedro Castillo was removed from office and replaced as president.
Within hours following Castillo’s alleged coup attempt to seize control of the legislature, 60-year-old lawyer Dina Boluarte was sworn in as Peru’s first female president.
Castillo faced his third impeachment effort in over 18 months in office to start the day of high drama.
The 53-year-old, however, said that he was dissolving the opposition-dominated Congress, imposing a curfew, and would rule by decree in a televised speech to the nation.
As criticism of the speech increased, MPs defiantly convened earlier than expected to discuss the impeachment move. With 101 votes out of a total of 130 lawmakers, the motion was adopted.
Castillo, a former teacher, was removed from office due to his “moral incapacity” to exercise authority. This came about as a result of a series of crises, including six investigations into possible corruption against him and his family, five cabinet changes, and sizable demonstrations.
The constitutional clause, which permits impeachment proceedings to be brought against a president based on the arbitrary presumption of political misconduct rather than legal fault, has led to an epidemic of impeachments in Peru.
Castillo became the third president to be removed from office since 2018 as a result of “moral incompetence” under the constitution.
Castillo said to the nation that “his awful predicament cannot continue” after months of power conflicts with Congress.
Within nine months, he promised, a new Congress would meet to draft a new constitution.
Castillo, however, departed the presidential residence with a bodyguard following the impeachment vote and went to the Lima police department’s main office, where he stayed.
Castillo was pictured in a room surrounded by police and prosecutors in images issued by the Peruvian prosecutor’s office, but his legal standing was not made clear.
“Currently former president”
Castillo was accused by House Speaker Jose Williams Zapata for attempting to “dissolve Congress and obstruct its work in an unlawful manner.”
Before the vote, hundreds of demonstrators had assembled in front of Congress.
Johana Salazar, 51, stated, “We are tired of this crooked regime that has been plundering from day one.
A 50-year-old systems engineer named Ricardo Palomino called Castillo’s effort to dissolve parliament “absolutely inappropriate and unconstitutional.” The results of it going against everything are these.
The United States requested Castillo “change his choice” prior to the impeachment decision before declaring that it no longer regarded him as the president.
Ned Price, a spokesperson for the State Department, told reporters: “My understanding is that, given the action of the Congress, he is now former President Castillo.” Price claimed that lawmakers took “corrective action” in accordance with democratic principles.
More than 30 years after then-President Alberto Fujimori suspended the constitution and dissolved Congress in April 1992, Castillo’s failed attempt to stop the impeachment attempt.
“The coup has been carried out by President Pedro Castillo. He is now unlawful as a result of his violation of Article 117 of the Peruvian Constitution. The attempt to dissolve Congress is a self-coup, political analyst Augusto Alvarez said AFP.
“Today, a coup in the style of the 20th century occurred. The coup will fail because Peru wants to be a democracy. According to Francisco Morales, president of the Constitutional Court, this coup d’etat had no legitimate justification.
AFP
