After several hours of debate and a vote, an impeachment procedure was launched on Friday 11 September against President Martin Vizcarra.

"The motion to vacate the post of President of the Republic has been approved," said the head of the Peruvian Parliament, Manuel Merino.

The motion, presented by several parties, had to obtain at least 52 votes to be adopted and trigger the formal impeachment procedure which must be voted on within four days.

Of the 130 members, all of whom were not physically present or did not participate in the vote, 65 parliamentarians voted in favor of initiating the procedure, 36 against and 24 abstained.

During the formal vote, the date of which has not been fixed, 87 votes will be necessary to remove the head of state, who has no majority.

Martin Vizcarra, in power since March 2018, will have the opportunity to defend himself before Parliament.

Investigation of a corruption case

In the event of dismissal, the President of Parliament will act as interim until the end of the current term of office on July 28, 2021.

"The dismissal of the president, in these circumstances, seven months before the general elections in April, could turn out to be very hazardous," political analyst Fernando Rospigliosi warned AFP, as the country is mired in a serious health and economic crisis due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the evening, a concert of casseroles, convened on social networks under the theme "concert of casseroles for Peru", was heard for long minutes in several districts of Lima in support of the head of state.

Martin Vizcarra, who had taken the reins of the country after the resignation of his predecessor, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, of which he was the vice-president, found himself by surprise in the hot seat.

In question, the broadcast Thursday before parliamentarians of an audio recording in which he is presented manipulating witnesses by asking them to hide the truth, in an investigation into a corruption case.

This case concerns the hiring in the midst of the coronavirus epidemic of a singer by the Ministry of Culture, the justice suspecting the artist, of low notoriety, of having benefited from a contract of convenience.

"I'm not going to quit, I'm not going to run away"

During the debates, opposition parliamentarian Jose Vega said the recordings "corroborate" the alleged irregularities which Parliament has been investigating for months.

His left-wing counterpart, Mirtha Vasquez, criticized the fact that he wanted to "seek impeachment proceedings while the investigation is still ongoing".

President Vizcarra, who was visiting a laboratory where 6,000 Peruvians volunteer to test an anti-Covid-19 vaccine, asked parliamentarians "to analyze the situation with caution, with responsibility, and to take the decision they deem appropriate ".

Thursday, after the broadcast of the recordings in the hemicycle, the Head of State was more incisive during a televised address: "I will not resign, I will not run away", he had launched, considering himself the victim of a "conspiracy against democracy".

The Prime Minister and former retired general Walter Martos added Friday, saying that Parliament is preparing a "coup d'état because it makes an arbitrary interpretation of the Constitution".

This political crisis comes as the executive and parliament clash over a government-led reform aimed at banning those sentenced to stand for election.    

Other motions by Parliament against former presidents

This motion is reminiscent of those presented against ex-President Kuczynski in December 2017 and March 2018, following a corruption scandal linked to the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht, which had led to his resignation.

This case also recalls the dismissal in November 2000 for "permanent moral incapacity" of President Alberto Fujimori.

The detonator was the broadcast, by a cable channel, of a video showing the head of the intelligence services, Vladimiro Montesinos, bribing an opposition parliamentarian to join the pro-Fujimori group in parliament.

Peru, which has experienced strong political instability in recent years, is one of the countries most affected by the coronavirus with more than 710,000 reported cases and more than 30,000 deaths, for a population of 33 million inhabitants. 

Martin Vizcarra, 57, has so far won popular support through his intransigence towards Parliament, unlike his predecessors, and his anti-corruption crusade, in a country where the last four presidents have had a mess from with justice.

With AFP

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