Peru’s President Martin Vizcarra signed an executive order dissolving the opposition-run Congress as he considered that the legislature didn’t go through with the head of state’s proposed vote of confidence. However, after Vizcarra’s decision was announced Congress approved the vote of confidence, leaving the country at a critical political standstill, as they have started a process to remove Vizcarra due to “permanent moral incapacity.”
Vizcarra took the drastic step to keep lawmakers from appointing up to six out of seven justices in the Constitutional Court (TC), a likely referee in any legal dispute between the government and Congress.
“Let the people finally decide. The closure I have done is within my powers permitted by the Constitution. Ending this stage of political entrapment so that the future of the country be defined at the polls,” Vizcarra said.
“President Martin Vizcarra is announcing a coup d’etat,” said congressman Salvador Heresi, adding that “he would go down in history as a dictator.”
The power struggle between the executive and legislature has brought Peru’s young democracy to the brink of a constitutional crisis, threatening to grind lawmaking to a halt and potentially trigger unrest in one of Latin America’s most stable economies.
Sources: Reuters, teleSUR.
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