Peru: Castillo summons political parties to try to stop his impeachment

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The President of Peru, Pedro Castillo, plans to meet this Monday afternoon with the leaders of the political parties represented in Congress to discuss the impeachment petition against him promoted by some legislators.

“The intention is to talk with all political forces, exchange opinions on the situation, make transparent any doubts they may have,” said the Minister of Health, Hernando Cevallos, in statements to TVPerú.

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The official added that “if they do not want to talk, it is a clear intention to obstruct the government’s management and not to recognize the result of the elections.”

On November 25, 28 congressmen from the right-wing and opposition bench Avanza País, Renovación Popular, and Fuerza Popular submitted to Congress a petiton for Castillo’s dismissal, appealing to the constitutional cause of “moral incapacity”.

Leaders of these sectors, such as former presidential candidates Keiko Fujimori and Rafael López Aliaga (Renovación Popular), said last week that they would not attend the meeting, to be held this Monday at 3:30 PM in the Government Palace.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Justice and Human Rights, Anibal Torres, said that Castillo “must talk with all the benches, even with Fuerza Popular. They cannot live forever because they lost the election, and their existence will be pure hatred and resentment. The only thing they are doing is harming the country.”

The legislators accuse Castillo of benefiting friends from his position amid a scandal of alleged acts of corruption for likely irregular meetings with business people and officials.

The President, who took office in July, was also summoned by the Attorney General’s Office for the case of irregular military promotions. The bench of the Peru Libre party, which brought Castillo to the presidency, said Monday that it would vote against the vacancy request.

“Peru Libre forcefully rejects the presidential vacancy motion promoted and driven by the fascist sectors of the country. It recognizes having serious discrepancies with the caviar (sic) government of Pedro Castillo, but that does not justify being a participant in a coup d’état to democracy,” the group said in a statement.

Castillo already met on Friday with the congressional benches given Tuesday’s debate and vote on the impeachment request. On Saturday, he had a meeting with his predecessor Francisco Sagasti (2020-2021), who became President after the dismissal of Martin Vizcarra (2018-2020).