The President of the Republic Peru, Pedro Castillowas arrested by the authorities of his country and sentenced to imprisonment ten days in preventive detention for alleged incitement to hatred, disturbance of public order and excess of power. In fact, on Tuesday December 7, he tried to dissolve the opposition-controlled national parliament a few hours before a session with its agenda impeachment proceedings to the “permanent moral disability‘ asked about allegations by corruption. In a speech addressed to the nation, the head of state announced that he would call parliamentary elections and govern within nine months.by decree‘ in the transitional period. He also tried to impose a curfew between 10pm and 4am (from Wednesday) and urged all gun owners to turn them over to the nearest police station within 72 hours. The national media immediately denounced this coup attempt: Even the President of the Constitutional Court, Francisco Morales, spoke of a “doomed coup d’état” and called on the armed forces “restoration of democracy according to the Constitution”.
However, Congress – the only chamber of parliament in Lima – has not obeyed the order: the president of the assembly William Zapata opened the session regularly. The parliamentarians therefore decided not to continue the debate and immediately proceed to the vote, which agreed to this dismissal of the head of state 101 yes votes (87 were needed, two-thirds) six votes against and ten abstentions. Without waiting for the result, Castillo did it leaving with the whole family (and with the former Prime Minister Anìbal Torres) the government building, referred to the prefecture of the capital, where he was arrested. The same minute his prime minister resigned, Betsy Chavez, only appointed on November 25. After the vote on impeachment, Parliament summoned the Vice-President of the Republic to Dina Boluarte, for officializing the succession: “I oppose Pedro Castillo’s decision to commit the collapse of the constitutional order by closing Parliament. It is a coup that aggravates the political and institutional crisis that Peruvian society must overcome with strict compliance with the law,” she wrote on Twitter.
Rechazo Pedro Castillo’s decision to maintain the peace of the constitutional order with the security of Congress. It was a coup that deepened the political and institutional crisis that Peruvian society will tend to overcome with stern apego a la ley.
— Dina Boluarte Z. (@DinaErcilia) December 7, 2022
Even the police and army immediately dismissed Castillo with a joint statement: “The Peruvian armed forces and police are Respect for the established constitutional order‘ they let it be known. Emphasizing that “Article 134 of the Constitution establishes that the President of the Republic has the right to dissolve Parliament if he has twice reprimanded or voted no confidence in the Council of Ministers,” a circumstance that did not materialize in this case. “Any act contrary to the existing constitutional order constitutes a violation of the constitution and leads to not obedience by the Armed Forces and the National Police of Peru,” they concluded.