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Xinhua News Agency, Lima, November 9 (International observation) The Peruvian president is accused and resigned, political instability raises concerns
Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Guoying
On the 9th, the Peruvian Congress voted to approve the impeachment bill against President Vizcarra and remove him from his presidency on suspicion of corruption. This is the second time he has been indicted by Congress and has since resigned.
Analysts pointed out that the frequent accusation against the Peruvian president and the disputes between the government and the court have raised concerns that are not conducive to the political and economic stability of the country and the fight against the new corona epidemic. The dismissal of Biscala has aroused the discontent of many politicians, businessmen and the public, and may have an impact on the general elections scheduled for next April.
Twice impeachment
The presidential impeachment crisis was caused mainly by the Peruvian Union Party’s motion to impeach the president. In October this year, the party accused Vizcarra of accepting bribes from government contractors during his tenure as governor of the southern province of Moquegua in 2014, thus lacking the ethical quality to continue serving. On November 2, the Peruvian Congress passed a motion to impeach Vizcarra, demanding that he accept the congressional challenge and defend himself on the 9th, and then members of Congress will argue and vote.
In his statement before the congressional debate, Vizcarra claimed that the evidence presented by the opposition was “false” and not proven. Without conclusive evidence and legal basis, Congress cannot prosecute for “uncoordinated virtue.” The president would otherwise violate his “due process rights.”
This is the second time Vizcarra has faced an impeachment crisis. On September 10, dozens of congressmen from six parties in Congress filed an impeachment motion against Biscala on the grounds that he allegedly prevented Congress from investigating a dispute over the appointment of a pop singer as the government’s cultural advisor. The impeachment case was not supported by a two-thirds majority in the September 18 parliamentary vote, and Vizcarra was exempted from impeachment.
House dispute
Analysts believe that although Biscala has been indicted by Congress twice in a row, although the superficial reason is suspected to be corruption, there are actually deeper reasons.
Government disputes are the norm in Peruvian politics. President Kuczynski, who came to power after the 2016 elections, was indicted twice and finally resigned in March 2018. Biskala, who succeeded Kuczynski, has no political background and has faced many difficulties after coming to power, especially its anti-corruption measures such as prohibiting convicted officials from running for public office again, restricting the judicial immunity of parliamentarians and reviewing the electoral procedure of the Constitutional Court judge. The reform encountered opposition in Congress. On September 30 of last year, Del Solar, then president of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister), initiated a motion of confidence in Congress to amend the procedure for the election of judges of the Constitutional Court. However, Congress did not contest the motion and Del Solar resigned.
Following Del Solar’s resignation, Vizcarra announced the dissolution of Congress and the new Congress was elected at the end of January this year. But only more than seven months later, the new Congress began to impeach the president. Some analysts believe this may be due to Vizcarra’s reform measures that affect the interests of members of Congress. Vizcarra himself has stated that since he took office, his government has taken all actions to combat corruption and acted in a correct, clean and transparent manner, affecting the interests of some organizations and groups. He said some people lobbied for impeachment due to political and economic interests.
In addition, attempts by Congress to postpone the presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for April next year are also considered one of the reasons for his impeachment. The president of the Peruvian Council of Ministers, Matos, recently clearly accused the United Peruvian Party of launching a presidential impeachment motion to postpone the 2021 elections.
Cause concern
The successive presidential impeachment crises have caused great controversy in Peru. Some people believe that the impeachment of the president is not conducive to the political and economic stability of the country and the fight against the new epidemic of the crown, if there is a problem with Vizcarra, it should be solved after his resignation. During the impeachment process in September, polls showed that nearly 80% of the people supported Vizcarra to complete the presidency.
People in economic circles are concerned that the continued removal of parliament will have an impact on investment projects and businesses in Peru. The expert from the Peruvian Institute of Economic Research, Diego Marcela, said that although the impeachment of the president is within the power of Congress, it will not help the recovery of the Peruvian economy. He said that the new epidemic of the crown has brought Peru the worst economic crisis in 100 years, and new political tensions will complicate everything.
Vizcarra is very popular with the public for his anti-corruption reforms, recent polls show that although his approval rate has dropped due to allegations of corruption, it still exceeds 50%. After Congress voted to remove the president, some local governments expressed that they would not accept the decision of Congress. Citizens of the capital Lima and the main cities of the provinces of Junín, Tacna and Huánuco took to the streets to hold rallies of protest and demonstrations that night.
However, after receiving the decision to remove Congress, Biscala said that he accepted the decision and would not initiate any legal process against the actions of Congress. In accordance with the Peruvian Constitution, when the President cannot fulfill his functions, the Vice President will replace him. Since the vice president of Peru, Araus, resigned in October last year, the president of the Merino Congress will succeed the presidency. Some analysts believe that after Merino becomes president, the possibility of the elections being postponed will increase considerably.
