“It could also happen because we are finding evidence,” the president of the Audit Commission responded to La República of Congress, Héctor Ventura, when asked if in the next legislature, with the report on the Sarratea case and the complaint in the Club Apurímac case, the Parliament will disqualify the president peter castle and Vice President Dina Boluarte.
From early on, Ventura was invoking all his colleagues to approve his report from the Supervisory Commission, which recommends investigate the head of state for leading an alleged criminal organization, to later denounce him for violating various articles of the Constitution; this due to his lack of transparency in his unofficial meetings in Breña’s house and his repeated refusal to testify to the commission.
The path may be redundant in terms of suggestions to investigate crimes against the president. However, the same does not happen with constitutional infractions. And, as stated by various legislative sources, this is the main flank where President Castillo will be hit.
Ventura, from Fuerza Popular, explained that his report, In addition to being referred to the Public Ministry, it will pass into the hands of the Subcommittee on Constitutional Accusations. There, the process of impeachment begins for the alleged infractions of Professor Castillo to the Magna Carta in the Saratea case. And the maximum sanction in this scenario is disqualification from public office for up to 10 years.
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the owner of the Control Commission He says that his investigation can provide sufficient arguments to seek, for the third time, the vacancy of President Castillo. Ventura also maintained that the elements of his file show grounds that Castillo is morally incapacitated. to continue in office. Suddenly there are plenty of arguments in the opposition. But the lack is the votes for an impeachment.
The dismissal of the head of the Palace requires 87 votes. Fujimori does not have them. It would need a faction of the left, which, for now, is not willing to betray the Executive, although nothing is ruled out in politics. Meanwhile, the Fuerza Popular, Renovación Popular and Avanza País benches will point to disqualification, after having failed in their two presidential vacancy claims.
With disqualification, parliamentary arithmetic is different. For this, a simple majority of congressmen is enough, subtracting the members of the Permanent Commission in the Plenary. That is, with 66. Fujimori and its allies find it more feasible to get that amount of support in the hemicycle.
New elements for the political trial, suddenly, may arise in the next legislature. Precisely for the second half of this year, the Supervisory Commission will deepen its investigations in the environment of the Castillo and also of the first lady Lilia Paredes and his sister Yenifer Paredes, for alleged acts of corruption.
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“A new line of investigation has to be opened against the president’s family,” Ventura reiterated.
The Vice President of the Republic Dina Boluarte, who is also being targeted by the opposition, He lamented that “people close to the president are involved in investigations.”
The votes and the process
At the close of this note, the file of the Supervisory Commission in the Sarratea case had not yet been voted on in plenary. However, it was expected that it would be approved. With the votes of Fuerza Popular, Avanza País and Renovación Popular, and more of their allies from Alianza para el Progreso and Acción Popular, it was imminent that these benches would get the 66 votes necessary to give the green light to the opinion.
What is coming involves Castillo and Boluarte in a plan by their opponents to remove them from office and thus leave the way to the president of Congress. Today the legislature expires and the Subcommittee on Constitutional Accusations, chaired by Rosío Torres, from APP, will choose the congressman who will present the complaint against Boluarte.
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The vice president is accused of having violated the Constitution for having made efforts for the Apurimac Club while serving as Minister of Social Inclusion. Since this is a political trial, like Castillo, the maximum punishment is impeachment.
That is why Ventura did not rule out that scenario in statements to this newspaper.
It will, however, be the next president of Congress and the new head of the Subcommittee on Constitutional Accusations who has the Castillo and Boluarte cases in her hands. On the side of the Board of Directors, the priority that these complaints have when they reach the Plenary will depend on this instance; and on the side of the Subcommittee, the parliamentary speakers they choose to support the complaints against the president and vice president of the Republic will be crucial.
If both complaints are approved -against Castillo and Boluarte-, they will be voted on by the Permanent Commission and finally in plenary. A scenario with both out of the way leaves the post open for the head of the Board of Directors to assume the transitional presidency and call elections.
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It is not clear, however, if these elections would be general or only presidential. The group’s interpretation of Fujimorist Patricia Juárez, president of the Constitution Commission; María del Carmen Alva, head of Congress; and Gladys Echaíz, from the Justice Commission, is that an electoral process should only be called to elect leaders.
The Board of Directors
Precisely, Echaíz is the main candidate to preside over Congress in the next legislature. However, that depends on the decision of César Acuña, president of Alliance for Progress. Echaíz is not to Acuña’s liking. The reasons are diverse: the congresswoman has not voted in this legislature according to the mandates of the caucus and, in addition, she does not attend the meetings of this parliamentary group, according to APEP sources. In a conversation with this newspaper, Héctor Acuña, legislator and president of the Budget Commission, ruled her out as an APP candidate.
The problem is that the fujimorism and his allies see Echaíz as a card they can trust.
FP congressman Alejandro Aguinaga and his colleague from Peru Libre Waldemar Cerrón had presented a bill so that parliamentarians who migrated or created other benches in this first year of Congress do not participate as candidates for the Board of Directors. This proposal, however, was not prioritized in the Constitution Commission, led by Patricia Juárez, and it is evident that it will not apply to the election of the new president of Parliament.
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This rule was going to go against the interests of various groups that have been formed, such as the dissidents of Peru Libre, and they are negotiating with the opposition. And furthermore, such an initiative diminished the chances of Echaíz being elected, in case she decides to leave APP to go to Avanza País or Renovación Popular. These two groups have opened the doors for her.
For APP, an alternative that still has possibilities is Lady Camones, who in this period was the first vice president of the Legislative. Camones told Correo that she “would be honored to be able to assume” the candidacy for the MDC.
For this reason, these next two weeks will be crucial in Parliament. Before July 27, the Plenary must elect the new president of the Table. Whoever assumes said position, if Castillo and Boluarte are disqualified, will be the one who assumes the reins of the country. There is a lot at stake and each block seeks to take advantage.
The Permanent Commission will continue working
The Standing Committee continues to work while the other parliamentarians go on vacation, after the end of the legislature. This means that the constitutional complaints for infringement of the Magna Carta against the president peter castle and Vice President Dina Boluarte can at least advance to this stage.
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The Subcommittee on Constitutional Accusations belongs to the Permanent Commission. Therefore, they can continue to session. Let us remember that in the previous Congress the subcommittee decided to declare itself in permanent session until July 26, that is, until one day before the new parliamentarians take office.
It will depend on the president of the subcommittee, the APEPist Rosío Torres, if they continue working until the new Board of Directors enters.
The word
Héctor Ventura, Control Commission
“In the case of President Pedro Castillo (the report of the Oversight Commission), could be the cause of a vacancy due to moral incapacity, due to lack of transparency (…). It could also happen (disqualification) because we are finding evidence.