Peru's congress has voted to oust President Martín Vizcarra from office on Monday over corruption allegations. Mr Vizcarra has said he will accept the vote and not take any legal action.
“Today I’m leaving the government palace. Today I’m going home", he said. “History and the Peruvian people will judge the decisions that each one of us takes.” Mr Vizcarra has denied all allegations that he had received bribes worth £487,000 to hand out government contracts.
Opposition lawmakers from seven parties banded together in the second attempt in the last two months to impeach the president, with 105 lawmakers voted in favour of the motion while 19 voted against and 4 abstained from voting.
An impeachment vote on September 18 fell short of gaining necessary votes with only 32 lawmakers voting in favour of the motion. It focused on allegations that Mr Vizcarra misused public funds, which he denied.
Mr Vizcarra is a favourite of the people for speaking up about corruption on the highest levels of the government. Many Peruvian leaders have called this impeachment a disguised coup. “Those who will be most harmed by this coup will be the citizens,” wrote Augusto Alvarez Rodrich, a political commentator “They face a gloomy outlook, in the middle of degradation of politics for ambitious, insatiable and illegitimate personal interests.”
According to Peru's constitution, the president of the congress, Manuel Merino will replace Vizcarra as interim president. Merino is an opposition lawmaker and will be sworn in on Wednesday, just months ahead of the scheduled elections in April 2021. Mr Vizcarra is henceforth banned from running for a second term according to the constitution.
Written by Anushree Appandairajan
Artwork by Zara Masood
Comments