Less than two months after a first attempt, the Peruvian Parliament voted on Monday to dismiss the popular President of the Republic Martin Vizcarra for “moral incapacity”, on an accusation of alleged bribes he had received in as governor in 2014. Seen by the population as the herald of the fight against corruption, Martin Vizcarra, who found himself at the head of the country after the resignation in 2018 of his predecessor, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, of which he was the vice-president, on the other hand, was not a member of any political party and had no support from the legislators.
The motion to remove the head of state received more votes than the 87 necessary, with 105 votes in favor, 19 against and 4 abstentions. “The resolution declaring the vacancy of the Presidency of the Republic has been approved,” declared the President of Parliament, Manuel Merino, who will now take the reins of the government until the end of Martin’s mandate after the vote. Vizcarra, July 28, 2021.
The now ex-president Vizcarra, who has a record level of popularity after his 32 months at the head of the country, will be immediately informed, confirmed Manuel Merino. The President of Parliament will take over the leadership of Peru at the end of the next session of Parliament, scheduled for Tuesday. This was the second attempt to impeach Martin Vizcarra, after a first vote on September 18.
” Heads up “
“I am leaving the government palace as I entered it two years and eight months ago: with my head held high. I will not launch any legal action “to fight against the dismissal, declared Martin Vizcarra, surrounded by his ministers in the garden of the palace, adding that he was going to join his private residence. His predecessor, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, had not been able to complete his mandate either, forced to resign under pressure from Parliament after being implicated in the Odebrecht scandal, named after this Brazilian company of construction accused of paying bribes in various South American countries. No less than four former Peruvian presidents are also involved in the scandal.
Several calls to demonstrate flourished on social networks, in the wake of the impeachment, and several dozen people gathered in the evening in Lima, knocking on pots and pans to denounce the vote in Parliament. On placards, the demonstrators attacked the “coup congress”, others affirming: “Merino, you will never be president”. Other gatherings were also reported in the cities of Arequipa and Trujillo. “Peru comes out institutionally weakened” from this vote, estimated political analyst Augusto Alvarez Rodrich, “Manuel Merino will be a weak president, with the prospect of general elections. [en avril prochain, NDLR] in the context of a pandemic ”.
Third president in four years
The Speaker of Parliament is indeed a secondary political figure in his country, largely unknown to the majority of his compatriots, which was also the case for Martin Vizcarra when he came to power two and a half years ago. Manuel Merino will thus become the third president of Peru since 2016, a sign of the institutional fragility that characterizes the former Spanish colony, independent since 1821.
President Vizcarra appeared in the morning before Congress, which met in plenary session, to ensure his own defense, again denying having received any bribe when he was governor of the region of Moquegua (South). “I vehemently and categorically reject these accusations, I have not received the slightest bribe from anyone”, he assured, before stressing that the choice to declare a vacancy in power “is a measure extreme ”which should not be attempted by Congress“ every month and a half ”.
The President of the Republic, who has become the flagship of the fight against corruption, on the other hand stressed that 69 parliamentarians were the subject of a judicial investigation, without having been dismissed. The impeachment was also badly received by employers’ organizations who wanted to see the government focus on the response to the pandemic, when the country has nearly 35,000 dead since March, and the restarting of the economy.
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