Peruvian Congress impeached President Vizcarra

This Monday evening, the National Congress of Peru approved the dismissal of President Martín Vizcarra for “permanent moral incapacity”.

In the midst of the pandemic, the legislature proceeded for the second time to the process of “presidential vacancy”. Just two months ago, Vizcarra was nearly dismissed from his post on a motion accusing him of improperly awarding contracts.

On October 20, parliamentarians tabled a vacancy motion for the presidency. It happened after the newspaper Trade publish the testimonies of collaborators of the Peruvian prosecutor’s office, which investigates various causes of corruption when Vizcarra was regional governor of Moquegua, between 2011 and 2014. The president is said to have obtained bribes from the construction company Obrainsa in exchange for the granting of an irrigation work and the construction of a hospital. The amount reached by the bribes according to the legislators, would reach 630,000 dollars.

Congress finally obtained the dismissal with 105 votes in favor, 19 against and 4 abstentions. All of its constituent legislators were elected in January of this year, after the president dissolved the legislature in September 2019.

The session lasted for several hours, during which Vizcarra defended himself before Congress saying the demand was based on “unfounded statements and that his departure could lead to chaos in Peru.”

Between boos, the then president recalled that 68 of the 130 parliamentarians also face charges for various crimes before the prosecutor’s office. “Should they also drop their charges for this? Without the prosecution’s investigation being completed?” Vizcarra said.

The charges that led to the dismissal are based on testimonies from executives of local construction companies, who, as “award-winning whistleblowers”, worked with authorities to reduce their corruption sentences.

Repetitive corruption

Vizcarra assumed the presidency in 2018 following the resignation of former president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski after filing a similar vacancy motion. The last presidents before Kuczynski – Alejandro Toledo (2001-2006), Alan García (2006-2011) and Ollanta Humala (2011-2016) were also investigated for alleged bribery with the construction company Brazilian Odebrecht.

Toledo is jailed in the United States awaiting extradition to Peru, García committed suicide minutes before being detained by police, while Humala and Kuczynski are under house arrest awaiting trial.