Legislators from three Peruvian right-wing parties presented on Thursday a request to remove President Pedro Castillo for “permanent moral incapacity” almost four months into his term.
The request of the Popular Force, Popular Renovation and Avanza País party added the signature of 28 legislators. The law indicates that 26 signatures are needed to present the request that now must gather another 52 votes to be admitted in the parliamentary debate.
However, the path to a presidential impeachment is long and uncertain.
If the request achieves 52 votes, then President Castillo will be invited to Parliament to defend himself or his lawyer could also do so. Then the law indicates that a new session would need to be held where 87 votes must be obtained to remove the president.
In the presidential impeachment request, he indicates that Castillo seeks “personal benefit or that of friends for the position he occupies.” It is added that Castillo is “a dangerous person for democracy” that if not removed will affect all Peruvians, “generating poorer people in a rich country.”
The incident occurs one year after a chaotic week in which the South American country had three leaders in a single week and the protests caused more than 200 injuries and two protesters killed at the hands of the police.
The impeachment petition comes shortly after the prosecution found $ 20,000 in a bathroom in the presidential palace that belonged to the now former secretary of the president during a corruption investigation.
The prosecution is investigating former secretary Bruno Pacheco for alleged “influence peddling.” On Wednesday the government accepted the resignation of the presidential secretary, according to a decree published in the official gazette where he was thanked “thanks for the services rendered.”
The investigation of the now former secretary, who used to frequently accompany the president in his official activities, began after a local media published a complaint accusing him of asking the head of the tax agency to help a debtor company.
Before that, Pacheco had also been accused by the former army chief, who said that the presidential secretary was pressuring him to promote a couple of officers who did not have sufficient merits to the rank of general. In the end, the recommended military did not rise.
Castillo began his administration on July 28 and according to the law it must end in 2026.
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