Removal of Martín Vizcarra

Martín Vizcarra, President of Peru, was removed from office on 9 November 2020 in a 105–16 vote. The impeachment process was led by the imprisoned Antauro Humala and his Union for Peru party. The controversial removal was recognized as a coup by many Peruvians, political analysts and media outlets in the country.

About Removal of Martín Vizcarra in brief

Summary Removal of Martín VizcarraMartín Vizcarra, President of Peru, was removed from office on 9 November 2020 in a 105–16 vote. The impeachment process was led by the imprisoned Antauro Humala and his Union for Peru party. The controversial removal was recognized as a coup by many Peruvians, political analysts and media outlets in the country, resulting with the beginning of the 2020 Peruvian protests. The removal was approved by the Congress of Peru on 8 October 2020 under the grounds of \”permanent moral incapacity\”. On 20 October 2020, political factions Union. for Peru, Podemos Peru, and Frente Amplio co-signed a series of articles of impeachment against President. Viz carra for alleged cases of corruption during his term as the governor of Moquegua. The impeachment was initiated with 60 votes in favor, 40 against and 18 abstentions. The vote to start impeachment proceedings was scheduled for 31 October, but it was later extended to the first week of November. After hearing the President’s defense, Congress debated and approved the removal of Viz Carra due to moral incap incapacity with 105 votes in favour, surpassing the 87 out of 130 vote supermajority threshold required to convict a political official. VizcarRA became the third president to have been successfully impeached and removed from. office, along with Guillermo Billinghurst and Alberto Fujimori.

If Vizcarr were to be removed, vice president Manuel Merino would assume the presidential office in his absence. On 12 September 2020, renowned reporter Gustavo Gustavo Gorrito reported that Viz Carrito was given his position in congress due to the absence of vice presidents and due to his position as president of the Ministry of Culture. The article was invoked by President Kuczynski’s attorney during his defense plea before Congress when facing the first vacancy request in 2017. As of 2020, there was no procedure that clearly established the conditions in which the \”moral incapacity\” clause in impeachment can be applied. In response to this, by means of Legislative Resolution of Congress No. 030-2003-CR, article 89-A was introduced in the Congress Regulations. In this way, it was established that the qualified vote necessary to be able to vacate the office of the republic, must reach a minimum of 87 votes, which corresponds to two-thirds of the legal number of congressmen, considering that in the Peruvian congress the number of members is 130. The Constitution also indicates in its Article 117 that the President of the Republic can only be accused of treason against the fatherland; for preventing presidential, parliamentary, regional or municipal elections.