Peru: Congress opens debate on impeachment of President Pedro Castillo

Peruvian President-elect Pedro Castillo, proclaimed winner of the presidential election on July 20, 2021. AFP - JOSE CARLOS ANGULO

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After having had six presidents in five years, Peru has not found the political stability it was looking for with the election of Pedro Castillo.

On March 28, Congress will begin to debate the dismissal of the head of state accused of “permanent moral incapacity”.

It is therefore a decisive week which begins in Congress for the pros and anti-Castillos.

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The Peruvian head of state is only 11 votes away from possible dismissal.

On March 14, 76 deputies voted in favor of a political trial against

but it will take 87 votes for the dismissal to be voted.

The opponents of the Head of State, in the majority in Congress, therefore have a week to convince some of the 41 deputies who consider that Pedro Castillo must complete his term, reports our correspondent in Lima,

.

Recall that Pedro Castillo was

at the head of a country which had known four presidents in less than three years, including three in one week, in November 2020. 

Impeachment supporters accuse the president, among other things, of irregularities in the appointment of senior police and armed forces officers, contradictions and lies during tax investigations and “questionable” appointments of at least ten ministers .

Recently, the head of state was accused by businesswoman

 – who is herself the subject of an investigation for alleged acts of corruption – of asking bribes from companies in exchange for public contracts from the Ministries of Transport and Communications.

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: in Peru, Pedro Castillo appoints his fourth government in six months

The impeachment request also criticizes the fact that President Castillo had considered submitting to a referendum the possibility of ceding to Bolivia an exit to the sea in Peruvian territory.

A possibility

.

The territorial dispute between the two countries was

of the International Court of Justice.

Some of his former ministers also claim that real power is exercised by the president's advisers more than by the government itself.

Barely eight months from the start of his mandate, Pedro Castillo's situation is all the more precarious as according to the polling institute IPSOS, 69% of Peruvians disapprove of his policy and up to 79% in Lima.

To end the crisis, the president has said he is ready to hold general elections in mid-2023 if he is not impeached next week.

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• Peru

• Pedro Castillo

• Bolivia