Peru is sinking into a deep political crisis. The vice-president of the country, Dina Boluarte, was invested, Wednesday, December 7, as new head of state, shortly after the dismissal by the Parliament of the president, Pedro Castillo. A few hours before the vote, by a very large majority, of a motion for dismissal against him, Mr. Castillo had announced that he would dissolve Parliament and form a “exceptional government”.
« J’assume [le pouvoir] in accordance with the Constitution of Peru, from this moment until July 26, 2026”finally told Parliament Dina Boluarte, a 60-year-old lawyer, the first woman to lead the country.
Earlier in the day, she had denounced the attempt to ” Rebellion “ of his now predecessor, who “aggravates the political and institutional crisis that Peruvian society will have to overcome by strictly respecting the law”. “It’s a coup doomed to failure, Peru wants to live in democracy”had also reacted Francisco Morales, president of the Constitutional Court, to RPP radio.
“Moral incapacity”
“The United States strongly urges President Castillo to reverse his attempt to dissolve Congress and allow democratic institutions to function in accordance with the Constitution”wrote on Twitter the American ambassador in Lima, Lisa Kenna.
“The judicial system, the judiciary, the public ministry, the National Council of Justice, the Constitutional Court are declared in reorganization”Pedro Castillo had declared in an address to the nation, asking “to all persons in possession of illegal weapons” of the “hand over to the national police within seventy-two hours”.
national police “will devote all its efforts to the real and effective fight against crime, corruption and drug trafficking, for which it will be provided with the necessary resources”he continued, calling on the institutions of civil society “to support these decisions that will allow us to put our country on the path to development”.
The impeachment motion for “moral incapacity” by Pedro Castillo, whose adoption was broadcast live on television, was approved by 101 of the 130 parliamentarians. Elected in July 2021, Mr. Castillo had previously escaped two similar motions, the last of which was in March 2022.
At the time, the opposition accused him of having intervened in a case of alleged corruption involving his entourage and of having committed a ” treason “ by declaring that she was open to a referendum on an outlet to the Pacific Ocean for neighboring Bolivia, deprived of access to the sea. She also blamed him for the repeated ministerial crises and the formation of four governments in eight months , unprecedented in Peru.
It was then the sixth impeachment motion of the Peruvian Parliament for “moral incapacity” against a president in office since 2017, after those filed against Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (right) in 2018 and Martin Vizcarra (center) in 2020. The ousting of Mr. Vizcarra had sparked violently repressed demonstrations which had made two dead and a hundred wounded. His departure had led Peru to have three presidents in five days.