The outcome is unknown because the opposition lacks the necessary 87 votes required by the Constitution to remove a president.
Of the 130 legislators, the opponents add up to about 80, while the official members of the Marxist Free Peru and related groups border on 50.
“There are no votes yet, to be honest. There are about 76 votes,” Norma Yarrow of the right-wing get moving Countryone of the parties promoting the impeachment.
If Castillo is dismissed, he will be replaced by his vice president. Dyne boluartealthough if she gives up, it will be up to the head of Congress to assume the position.
The session will begin with a speech by Pedro Castillo, who has up to an hour to answer the questions against him. Then his lawyer will follow the details of the debate, with the right to reply. The president does not participate in this stage.
But moments before he expressed his wishes that “this page be closed” and he can fulfill his mandate until 2026.
“We have been elected democratically by the popular will at the polls and we are not going to disappoint him. We hope that this page will close today and continue working together,” he said at a ceremony in eastern Lima for the start of the school year.
This is the second vacancy motion against Castillo, who assumed the presidency of Peru in July 2021 after winning a tight ballot to the right Keiko fujimori. In December, Congress threw out a similar measure.
Congress decided two weeks ago to take Pedro Castillo to a lightning impeachment trial by 76 votes, 41 against and one abstention.
The opposition accuses him of lack of direction and allowing alleged corruption in his environment. They also criticize his constant ministerial crises that translate into four cabinets, something unprecedented in Peru.
To make their wish come true, the opponents appeal to a controversial and flexible constitutional article, which allows the president to be removed based on a political evaluation rather than a legal one.
“Declare permanent inability moral of the President of the Republic, citizen José Pedro Castillo Terrones, as established in paragraph 2 of article 113 of the Political Constitution of Peru,” says the text of the impeachment motion.
Coinciding with the political trial of the president, a survey by the Institute of Peruvian Studies published this Monday by the newspaper La República revealed that 79% of Peruvians disapprove of the performance of Congress, more than disapproval of Castillo (66%, according to the latest Ipsos survey, three points less than in February).
Since 2017, the Peruvian Congress has passed six vacancy motions. Similar requests caused the fall of Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (center right), in 2018, and Martin Vizcarra (center), in 2020.
One of the reasons why this mechanism became recurrent is the absence of a parliamentary majority of the government in power. This has been happening since 2016, when Peru entered into a power clash dynamic that led it to have up to three presidents in one week in November 2020.
Source: Ambito
David William is a talented author who has made a name for himself in the world of writing. He is a professional author who writes on a wide range of topics, from general interest to opinion news. David is currently working as a writer at 24 hours worlds where he brings his unique perspective and in-depth research to his articles, making them both informative and engaging.
