Peru: Constitutional complaint filed against the vice president

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On Tuesday, June 14, a subcommittee of the Peruvian Congress approved the report that declares a constitutional accusation filed by the opposition against Vice President Dina Boluarte for having carried out procedures as president of a departmental club when she already held her position in the Government of Pedro Castillo.

With nine votes in favor, three against, and two abstentions, the Subcommittee of Constitutional Accusations of the Legislative gave the green light to the process of constitutional accusation against the Vice President, who is also Minister of Development and Social Inclusion.

The report, which concludes that the high official would have incurred in the alleged infringement of articles of the Constitution, will now be submitted to the Permanent Commission and then will pass to the plenary, where it will need the vote in favor of 67 of the 130 legislators that make up the Peruvian chamber to prosper.

If the complaint is approved in the plenary, Boluarte could face an accusation by the Attorney General’s Office and be removed from the positions in the ministry she heads and from the vice-presidency of the Republic.

The political opposition, which dominates the Congress, filed the accusations against Boluarte after a report of the Comptroller’s Office was made public, which determined that the vice-president would have signed documents as president of the Apurimac Departmental Club, despite her position in the government.

When the Comptroller’s Office report was made public, Boluarte denied having committed any irregularity, even though she later admitted having signed documents of the departmental club when she was already Minister of State.

The legislators of the opposition parties Fuerza Popular, Avanza País, Renovación Popular, Somos Perú and Alianza Para el Progreso voted in favor of the report.

The three votes against came from the party that brought Castillo to power, Perú Libre, and from the Bloque Magisterial, an ally of the government, even though the spokesman of the ruling party’s bench, Waldemar Cerrón, did not vote either in favor or against Boluarte, who was expelled last January from Perú Libre.

With information from EFE