AFP – Peruvian President tells Congress ‘nothing will stop him’ from completing his term 02/12/2022 18:13

Peruvian President Pedro Castillo, in response to Congress’ decision to discuss his re-imposition next week, has assured him that he will complete his constitutional term, which will expire this Friday (2) in 2026.

“When faced with the allegations of some political factions trying to disrupt the constitutional order and the will of the people expressed in the ballot boxes, I confirm that nothing can stop us from continuing the command of the nation until the last day of our government, July 28, 2026,” he said. Castillo at a rally broadcast on state television.

The left-wing president, who took office in July 2021, will face a third impeachment process next Wednesday in the right-dominated Congress.

To impeach a president, it takes 87 votes, which the opposition does not have under Peru’s constitution.

“Anti-democratic attitudes and petty and secondary interests will not pass,” said Castillo, adding “confidence” that “social forces, as well as democratic sectors of Congress, will be on the side of the institutional framework and governance.”

Castillo is facing impeachment proceedings following a prosecutorial investigation for alleged corruption.

Nearly 70% of Peruvians reject the president’s rule, according to polls, but Congress is even more discredited as 85% of citizens hold negative views of the institution.

In October, Castillo denounced an “ongoing parliamentary coup” and called for the intervention of the Organization of American States (OAS), while Congress president José Williams accused the president of wanting to dissolve Parliament.

Hours before Congress approved a possible impeachment debate, the OAS’s senior group assessing the Peruvian crisis proposed a “100-day political ceasefire” to “channel an official dialogue” with the community to reach a resolution. the conflict between the executive and the legislature.

Castillo stressed that his government “received this call” from the hemisphere bloc and was “willing to accept and seek the necessary consensus to move the country forward”.