Third impeachment and removal of Pedro Castillo

Third impeachment and removal of Pedro Castillo
President Pedro Castillo swears in Prime Minister Betssy Chávez, days before impeachment
AccusedPedro Castillo, president of Peru
ProponentsCongress of Peru
Date29 November 2022 (2022-11-29) to 7 December 2022 (2022-12-07)
OutcomeVacancy approval
ChargesAdopted: "moral incapacity" under Article 113 § 2 of the Constitution of Peru
Peruvian political crisis
Causes
Events
Elections
Protests
Armed violence
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The third presidential vacancy (impeachment) process against President Pedro Castillo was an action initiated by the Congress of the Republic of Peru with the purpose of declaring the "permanent moral incapacity" of the President of the Republic, Pedro Castillo,[1] under Article 113 of the Political Constitution of Peru.[2][3]

On November 8 and 17, according to the Government, Congress voted negatively on two motions of confidence presented that sought to modify the process of dissolving Parliament and calling a referendum without the need for an approving vote by Congress.[4] However, both measures were dismissed by the executive board of Congress because "Law 31399" contemplates two exclusive rights of the Legislative Power, such as the ratification in the first vote of constitutional reforms and the provision that allows the President of the Republic to carry out a referendum to approve them, so the issues of trust directly interfered with the powers of the Congress of the Republic and collided with article 206 of the Political Constitution of Peru.[5][6]

On 29 November 2022, the non-grouped congressman Edward Málaga presented the presidential vacancy motion for "moral ineptitude" with 67 signatures, which exceeded the necessary minimum number of 26 signatures.[7][8] The debate for the admission of the vacancy motion was held on 1 December.[9] When the date arrived, the motion was admitted to debate with 73 votes in favor, 32 against and six abstentions, with which the President of the Republic was summoned to the Plenary on 7 December 2022 to exercise his right to defense.[10] The vacancy required a qualified majority (two thirds of the legal number of congressmen, which corresponds to 87 votes in favor of 130); however, various voices considered that the votes were not guaranteed to approve the vacancy,[11][12][13] despite this, an unexpected event occurred hours before the session.

On the morning of the day on which the then president would exercise his right to defense, on 7 December 2022, he broadcast a message live to the nation in which he intended to carry out a self-coup.[14][15][16][17][18][19] Following this message, the Congress of the Republic brought the session forward and began the vote for the vacancy directly, under Article 46 ("nobody owes obedience to a usurping government"), due to the seriousness of the situation.[2] One hundred and one votes were reached in favor of the removal, for which the vacancy motion was approved,[20] ending the Castillo government.[10]

  1. ^ "Pedro Castillo: Congreso cita al presidente para el miércoles 7 por moción de vacancia". La República. 1 December 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  2. ^ a b GrupoRPP (2022-12-07). "José Williams, presidente del Congreso: "Nadie debe obediencia a un gobierno usurpador"". RPP (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-12-11.
  3. ^ "Congreso de la República declara vacancia de Pedro Castillo y sucesión presidencial". Comunicaciones. Retrieved 2022-12-11.
  4. ^ "Ejecutivo presenta cuestión de confianza ante el Congreso". elperuano.pe (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  5. ^ "Rechazan de plano cuestión de confianza planteada por el Poder Ejecutivo". Comunicaciones. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  6. ^ de 2022, 29 de Noviembre. "Cuestión de confianza y moción de vacancia, dos defensas a las que se aferran el Ejecutivo y Legislativo para no perder el poder". infobae (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2022-12-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ "Presentan tercera moción de vacancia contra Pedro Castillo". RPP Noticias. 29 November 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  8. ^ Tamullipa, Gianella (2022-12-05). "Es cierto que la última moción de vacancia contra Pedro Castillo es la primera presentada con 67 firmas de congresistas". Ojo Público (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-12-10.
  9. ^ "Pedro Castillo: Congreso decidirá este jueves 1 de diciembre si admite a debate la moción de vacancia". El Comercio. 1 December 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  10. ^ a b "Congreso admite moción y debatirá vacancia presidencial el 7 de diciembre". El Comercio. 1 December 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  11. ^ LR, Redacción (2022-12-02). "Luis Aragón considera que "no hay votos" necesarios para la tercera moción de vacancia contra Pedro Castillo". larepublica.pe (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-12-09.
  12. ^ LR, Redacción (2022-12-07). "Tercer proceso de vacancia sin los votos asegurados en el Congreso". larepublica.pe (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-12-09.
  13. ^ GOLPE TORPE DE PEDRO CASTILLO: ¿QUÉ PASÓ HOY? (in European Spanish), retrieved 2022-12-08
  14. ^ PERÚ, NOTICIAS EL COMERCIO (2022-12-11). "Golpe a sí mismo: ¿Por qué Pedro Castillo intentó disolver el Congreso sin tener un plan? | Golpe de Estado | Vacancia presidencial | Dina Boluarte | Aníbal Torres | Betssy Chávez | POLITICA". El Comercio Perú (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  15. ^ 20minutos (2022-12-07). "Crisis en Perú: Pedro Castillo, golpe de estado, elecciones anticipadas, toque de queda oposición, discurso, reacciones, canciller, Gobierno". www.20minutos.es - Últimas Noticias (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-12-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ Quesada, Juan Diego (2022-12-09). "En el interior del golpe de Estado en Perú: "Presidente, ¿qué ha hecho?"". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  17. ^ LR, Redacción (2022-12-07). "Pedro Castillo fue vacado tras anunciar disolución del Congreso". larepublica.pe (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  18. ^ GrupoRPP (2022-12-07). "Golpe de Estado: Pedro Castillo anuncia disolución del Congreso e instaura un "gobierno de excepción"". RPP (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  19. ^ "Golpe de Estado: Pedro Castillo anuncia disolución del Congreso y instaura un "gobierno de excepción"". EXITOSA NOTICIAS - NOTICIAS DEL PERU Y EL MUNDO (in Spanish). 2022-12-07. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  20. ^ Mayurí, Alejandro. "Así votaron cada uno de los congresistas y bancadas políticas la vacancia contra Pedro Castillo". La Republica. Retrieved 2022-12-13.