LIMA: Peru’s Congress on Tuesday rejected a motion from leftist lawmakers to launch impeachment trial hearings against President Dina Boluarte on charges related to the deaths of protesters. The move is the latest case in the country’s political instability.
A total of 37 mostly leftist MPs voted in favor of a motion to oust caretaker leader Boluarte for “moral incapacity.” The tally fell short of the 52 votes that were needed to start the trial to ultimately remove her from the legislature that has a total of 130 seats.
For years, Peru has faced intense political volatility, with a number of former presidents ousted, arrested, or imprisoned.
In December 2022, leftist president Pedro Castillo was removed in an impeachment trial and, subsequently, jailed, which led to violent demonstrations by his supporters. More than 50 people died in the protests. Opposition political parties have blamed the deaths on Boluarte, who at the time was Castillo’s vice-president and took office after his ouster.
Boluarte has backed probes into the deaths and denied responsibility.
Jaime Quito, an MO for the leftist Peru Libre party, who voted to approve the motion, said that there are many reasons to oust Boluarte as she has installed a government of death and repression.
Peru’s attorney general’s office probing Boluarte for various crimes
Peru’s attorney general’s office is probing Boluarte for the alleged crimes of qualified homicide, genocide, and serious injuries that relate to the deaths during the protests.
MP Patricia Juarez, which forms the right-wing Popular Force party, the largest group in Congress, voted against the motion and stated that, at this time, proposing impeachment is not prudent.
Boluarte, who is the Latin American country’s 6th president since 2016, is also being investigated by the attorney general’s office for alleged graft and campaign financial crimes during the presidential campaign in 2021 that brought Castillo to power. She denies the accusations.
