Peru: A new political crisis brews

PERU - In Brief 11 Sep 2020 by Alfredo Thorne

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Last night the new Congress elected in March started an impeachment process on President Martin Vizcarra. That this is happening less than two years ago when former president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski was ousted by the previous Congress indicates that not much has changed in the confrontation between the Executive and Legislative.Yesterday afternoon the head of the Supervisory Committee in Congress, Mr. Edgard Alarcon a former head of the Government Comptroller Office and a political opponent of President Vizcarra, aired several compromising audios for the president. One can hear President Vizcarra making some remarks that certain lawyers would indicate that are legally compromising. However, being the Constitution a presidential one, protects the president while in office. There is one vague article in the constitution that former congressmen used with former President Kuczynski and the new ones in office would want to use once again. This article says that a president can be ousted for “moral incapacity” and nowhere in the Constitution this term is defined.Following the release of these audios last night, President Vizcarra made a statement in public TV. While he acknowledged the existence of these audios and his presence in these conversations, said that there was nothing illegal in these conversations.Nevertheless, the radical political parties in Congress rushed to submit an impeachment motion last night. To move this motion into an actual impeachment discussion, they need the support of 52 congressmen and we believe that these parties have enough votes to start the debate. (As we are writing this piece Congress is discussing the motion.) Once approved, Congress has 4...