The president of Peru, Pedro Castillo, decreed this Wednesday to temporarily dissolve Congress and establish a national emergency government, hours before Parliament debated a vacancy motion (removal) against him that could have removed him from the head of State.
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In his televised message to the nation, Castillo called for new parliamentary elections, elections that will take place in nine months.
“Convoke in the shortest term elections for a new Congress with constituent powers to prepare a new Constitution in a period not exceeding nine months,” he said during his message to the Nation.
By expanding the information on the exceptional measures, Castillo decreed a national curfew starting this Wednesday from 10:00 p.m. local time until 4:00 a.m. the following day.
It also declared the justice system to be reorganized, that is, the judiciary, the Public Ministry, the National Board of Justice and the Constitutional Court.
Likewise, it provided that as of the date and until the new Congress is established, it will be governed by decrees of law.
“The National Police with the help of the Armed Forces will dedicate all their efforts to the real and effective fight against crime, corruption and drug trafficking, for which purpose they will be provided with the necessary resources,” he said.
He accused Congress of obstructing his government. “This congressional majority has not stopped in its goal of destroying the presidential institution. This totally discredited majority has prevented narrowing the enormous social gaps,” he declared.
Ministers announce their resignation after Castillo’s statement
At least three ministers from Castillo’s cabinet submitted their resignation, after the president made the announcement about the dissolution of Congress, which would vote on a vacancy motion against the president on Wednesday.
#NOW �� | Ministers of Labor, Alejandro Salas, of Foreign Relations, César Landa, and of Justice, Félix Chero, resign.
— Wayka (@WaykaPeru)
December 7, 2022
The ministers who submitted their resignation are Foreign Relations, César Landa; Work, Alejandro Salas; and of Justice, Félix Chero.
Betssy Chávez presented her resignation letter to Pedro Castillo after announcing a series of measures such as the dissolution of Congress.
“I have the honor of addressing you to cordially greet you and at the same time submit my irrevocable resignation from the position of President of the Council of Ministers,” she said in the document.
President Castillo’s decision has generated various reactions in the South American country, such as the support of one sector of the population and the rejection of another, including legislators from different congressional benches, which is scheduled to meet.
Within the framework of the worsening of the institutional crisis between the Government and Congress, several entities have also spoken out against the president’s measure, such as the vice-president Dina Boluarte and the Peruvian electoral system, such as the National Electoral Board, the Office National Registry of Electoral Processes and the National Registry of Identification and Civil Status.
In this same sense, the Armed Forces and the National Police rejected the president’s measures by recalling that any act contrary to the constitutional order “generates the non-compliance of both institutions.
On the other hand, hundreds of followers of the president of Peru have gathered this Wednesday afternoon in front of the country’s Congress, shouting slogans in favor of Castillo and against the Legislature, which in a vote favored the vacancy (resignation) of the president.
Silvana Robles also resigned from her position after stating that: “The decision to close Congress and the measures announced in today’s Message to the Nation contribute to deepening the crisis rather than solving it, with unforeseeable consequences for the Homeland. For this reason, I present my irrevocable resignation from the position of Minister of Culture”.
In this regard, Congress decided to swear in Boularte as president of Peru, at 3:00 p.m. local time.