Congress of Peru endorses debating Pedro Castillo’s dismissal again

The Congress of Peru approved this Thursday to debate a motion to impeach the president Pedro Castillothe third in the 16 months he has been in power, for “moral incapacity” to hold office.

“has been admitted [a debate] the motion”, announced the head of Congress, José Williams, after the initiative was approved by 73 votes, 32 against and 6 abstentions.

109 of a total of 130 legislators participated in the session. A minimum of 52 votes was required for the motion to be admitted for debate, according to the regulations of the Congress of Peru.

Williams proposed that the plenary decide the fate of Castillo next Wednesday, December 7 in a session scheduled for 3:00 p.m. local time.

We want to return democracy with the vacancy, it is the first step towards an early election and it has a spirit of political control,” said legislator Edwin Málaga, promoter of the motion during his speech in plenary session of Congress.

“We propose the vacancy of the Presidency of the Republic, occupied by José Pedro Castillo Terrones for having incurred in the cause of permanent moral incapacity,” says the text of the motion that seeks to remove him from the position for which he was elected until July 2026.

The legislators who voted in favor belong mostly to the right-wing parties Renovación Popular, Avanza País, Fuerza Popular and Acción Popular and Alianza para el Progreso (center-right).

The 32 votes against come from the leftist parliamentary bloc.

The Peruvian Congress must invite Castillo and his lawyer to defend themselves before the national representation on December 7.

To remove a president, Peru’s constitution requires 87 votes, a number not available to the opposition.

This is the third motion to remove Castillo. Last March, the previous one reached only 55 votes. The first motion, which dates back to December 2021, was not debated by the plenary session of Congress.

The new order comes at a time of growing tension between the leftist Executive and the Legislative, controlled by the right.

Castillo denounced in October “a parliamentary coup in progress” and called for the intervention of the Organization of American States (OAS), while the head of Congress, José Williams, accused the president of wanting to dissolve parliament.

OAS calls for a 100-day “political truce”

Hours earlier from Washington, the OAS high-level group evaluating the Peruvian crisis recommended “a political truce” in the country while seeking to “channel a formal dialogue” in society to reach a solution to the struggle between the Executive and Legislative .

Such a dialogue could be supported by “a third party” or “international organizations”.

The mission of the OAS It also considers it important that racism and discrimination be addressed within the framework of “national dialogue” and calls for “exercising freedom of expression in a constructive, responsible, impartial sense”.

These recommendations will be analyzed in a forthcoming Permanent Council to vote on a resolution on a “hundred-day truce,” said the OAS Secretary General, Luis Almagro, “aware that this is the beginning of a job.”

For this reason, he says, the political parties in Peru “should refrain from innovating” and carry out acts that affect “the current institutional framework.”

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