Peruvian president Martín Vizcarra was impeached on Monday (local time). A majority in Peru’s parliament voted in favor of the impeachment, and he is accused of accepting bribes from developers as regional governor in 2014. Vizcarra denies the charges, but says he accepts the parliament’s decision.
87 votes were required for a majority in parliament. During the vote it became clear that the opponents of Vizcarra would receive this number.
As regulated in the Peruvian constitution, parliament speaker Manuel Marino was named interim president on Monday. He will take over Vizcarra’s presidential duties until the end of the current term in July 2021.
The political situation in Peru has been unstable in recent years. Vizcarra succeeded his predecessor Pedro Pablo two years ago, who stepped down on corruption charges. The three presidents before that have also been suspects in corruption investigations.
Among the Peruvian people, Vizcarra is known as a president who fights against corruption. His anti-corruption policies and parliamentary reform plans made him one of the most popular leaders ever. However, the Peruvian congress has long opposed Vizcarra’s plans.
President paid pop artist with government money
Since taking office three times have been tried to depose Vizcarra. The most recent attempt was in september. The president is said to have paid a pop artist with government money to speak and sing well about him. Parliamentarians therefore wanted to impeach him for “moral inadequacy”.
Leaked audio tapes would show that Vizcarra paid more than 40,000 euros in government money to Richard Cisneros, a relatively unknown singer. The tapes also said that the president was trying to keep the government contract with Cisneros secret. According to the president, the impeachment procedure was “a conspiracy to destabilize the government.”
Vizcarra survived the vote in parliament. He indicated that he would not step down before the end of his term next year, but announced that he would not stand for another term.
– .
