The President Dina Boluarte He had, indirectly, another lawyer today at the hearing of the Constitutional Court (TC) in Arequipa for the competence demand of the Executive against the Public Ministry and the Judiciary. This is the Ombudsman, Josué Gutiérrezwho joined the choir of the jurists who argue that the president cannot be investigated while exercising the position.
It was evident that the attorney Executive Luis Huerta and President Joseph Campos’s lawyer were going to claim that the president is untouchable for tax investigations while being in office, according to article 117 of the Constitution. But when he had to speak to Gutierrez, he went further.
“Of course, a president can be investigated, and who is in charge of doing that investigation? Who is that attribute? Of the Public Ministry? We could say no, (which is) of the Congress of the Republic, within its powers and without exception Josué Gutiérrez.
“Congress because here in the Constitution he says it. Congress You can start research and develop it, “he added.
Gutiérrez insisted that the TC must sit “a historical precedent” to delimit if the president can be investigated while in the palace and used the argument that the president can be investigated in the Congress.
The defender seeks, thus, to put aside the Public Ministry. “That is why we never encourage anarchy and not authoritarianism, so we must give this faculty of research to Congress,” he insisted.
Congress instead of investigating, shield to Dina Boluarte
Parliament has mechanisms to do so, it is true, through the Supervisory Commission, Investigative Commissions and other political control tools, such as, in the extreme case, a Presidential vacancy.
The problem is that, to date, no investigation against Boluarte in the Legislative has prospered. The Congress rejected grant powers to the Supervision Commission to investigate it for the “Presidential chest“And he sent seven presidential vacancy to the archive.
While Congress protects Boluarte, in practice it means that the formula raised by Gutiérrez will end in a presidential shield.
But the Ombudsman would have forgotten that. Gutiérrez, surprisingly, made the decision to participate in the Audience of the TC and on the eve of that session, had presented an amicus curiae to consider the opinion of the Ombudsman in favor of a president not being investigated in the exercise of his functions.
The TC allowed him to participate in the audience and Gutiérrez enlisted suitcases for Arequipa. At the Jorge Chávez airport, according to a photo shown by the Enclerrona, it was seen with the former president of the TC, Ernesto Blume, who was also Boluarte advisor. In addition, in the hearing room, he exchanged words with the lawyer of the president, Joseph Campos.
Campos and Procurator Huerta were emphatic that the Public Ministry cannot do any diligence against the president. “It has constitutional protection to exercise the position. Only in the four assumptions (betrayal of the country, prevent the elections, dissolve the Congress and obstruct the functioning of the congress and the electoral organizations). Everything else will be later,” said Huerta.
Dina Boluarte armored, despite Pedro Castillo’s precedent
When he touched on the judiciary to defend his jurisdiction, the lawyer of this institution Jhonny Tupayachi Sotomayor warned that he shielded from all proceedings to a president until his period ends, puts at risk the investigation of any case. “What will happen? That there is no evidence? Is that what we want?” He questioned.
“Does investigating a president entail many tasks or conditions that seek that the country’s development is interrupted?
The prosecutor of the Public Ministry Reynaldo Miranda, meanwhile, recapitulated that in 2022, the then prosecutor of the Nation, Pablo Sánchez, initiated investigations against the former president Pedro Castillo for alleged acts of corruption. Miranda also showed the contradiction of the Ombudsman.
“There were many opinions from other agencies, such as the Ombudsman, through a trade led by Walter Gutiérrez to the prosecutor of the Nation, Pablo Sánchez, where the defender reaffirms that, based on what is indicated, we are not facing a regime of absolute irresponsibility. The President can only be accused by certain cases, therefore this does not prevent previous diligence from being carried out Reynaldo.
The audience ended after 1 in the afternoon. The president of the TC, Luz Pacheco, said that in May the verdict of this competence demand will still be known. In case the result is in favor of the Executive, the Public Ministry will be tied from hands until Boluarte leaves the palace.
