RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Peruvian Congress made official on Saturday, April 17, the political disqualification for ten years of former President Martin Vizcarra (2018-2020), which it approved on Friday after subjecting him to impeachment for having been secretly vaccinated last year against covid-19.
The decision, taken with 86 votes in favor, was published in the official gazette El Peruano and includes the disqualification for 8 years of former Health Minister Pilar Mazzetti year of former Foreign Minister Elizabeth Astete.
The legislative resolutions, which prevent the three former high-ranking officials from holding any public office during the disqualification period, were signed by the president of Congress, Mirtha Vásquez, and the second vice-president, Luis Roel.
In the case of Vizcarra, this decision will prevent him from being part of the Congress that will be installed this July 28 for the period 2021-2026, even though he was the most voted candidate in last Sunday’s elections with close to 164,000 votes.
THE “VACUNAGATE”
Vizcarra, Mazzetti, and Astete were impeached in the framework of the “Vacunagate” case, as the secret immunization of at least one hundred people who were not linked to the clinical trial carried out last year by the Chinese laboratory Sinopharm in the country is called.
In the case of Vizcarra, the accusation sustained that he lied in assuring that he volunteered for the trial and committed constitutional infractions when he was the highest-ranking official in the service of the Nation and the midst of the pandemic.
Mazzetti and Astete, who were ministers in the current transition government, presided by Francisco Sagasti. They resigned after the case was uncovered, were also found responsible for infractions to the Peruvian Constitution.
During the debate of the disqualification request, which focused on Vizcarra, most of the congressmen accused him of being corrupt; others assured him that he should be disqualified for life. Some even argued that he should be shot, besides attributing to him all the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic in his country.
VIZCARRA’S DEFENSE
After the sanction was confirmed, Vizcarra accused his country’s Congress of “having lost legitimacy” and expressed his certainty that he will succeed in reversing the decision in Peruvian and international courts since he has filed a precautionary measure before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).
The former governor, who was dismissed last November 9 by the Congress for “moral incapacity”, emphasized that he will follow all legal procedures and defended “the expression of the people in the popular vote” expressed in Sunday’s elections.
“Consequently, we do not doubt that this decision will be reversed”, he reiterated.