Political trouble has been continuing in Peru for years. Peru has experienced the resignation or removal of several presidents and prime ministers in the last few years including the removal of President Martin Vizcarra, President Dina Boluarte and President Pedro Castillo. The latest removal by Congress was President José Jerí — the Interim President of Peru — who took office four months ago especially after Dina Boluarte was impeached in October 2025. As per the reports of multiple sources including the BBC and CNN, Peru’s Congress ousted the president in February this year after the “Chifa-gate” corruption scandal involving his failure to disclose several meetings outside the official schedule with Chinese businessman Zhihua Yang.
There are corruption, conflicts between government branches and several other reasons that lead to the repeated impeachment or resignation of the presidents and prime ministers in Peru. There is no doubt that corruption scandals played a role in the removal of several presidents and prime ministers in the politically troubled country especially since 2016. For instance, former President Martin Vizcarra was impeached and removed in 2020 on corruption allegations during his time as a regional governor, though he denied it, and former president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski resigned before the impeachment vote for vote-buying scandals and links to the Odebrecht corruption probe. But other reasons such as conflicts between branches and a fragmented political party system have been playing a vital role.
Lima, Peru (credit: https://pixabay.com/).
There is a tenacious stalemate between the executive and legislative branches since presidents often lack a majority in Congress to support their agenda. Though corruption exists, conflicts between the Congress and the Executive often leads to the use of “Permanent Moral incapacity” (Article 113) to remove presidents and threats to dissolve Congress. This crucial clause that permits Congress to remove a president is vaguely defined and ambiguous. For instance, two early impeachment attempts of President Pedro Castillo — December 2021 and March 2022 — and Martin Vizcarra’s impeachment are often rendered politically motivated. Moreover, there is a lack of strong and stable political parties that causes frequent cabinet reshufflings, a rapid turnover in leadership, and increased vulnerability to political instability.
But repeated presidential impeachments, though the measures are not wholly rendered to be politically motivated, have resulted in several consequences. There is a state of chronic political instability and eroded public trust in government institutions. Though the economy manages to function amidst the chaotic political landscape in Peru due to its forced reliance on “automatic pilot” governance, it has increased economic volatility and significantly hindered long-term development and social progress. Moreover, repeated impeachments have led to a lack of public trust in government institutions including the two chambered Congress in Peru.
But measures are needed to come out of the repeated impeachments and political trouble. Addressing the conflicts between the Executive and Legislative branches is vital. But it is not that efforts have been absent in addressing conflicts between the branches including the weaponization of Constitutional Clauses such as “Permanent Moral Incapacity” in Peru. The government has made Constitutional Reform and reestablished a Bicameral System (a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies) in 2023 and 2024 that made impeachment more difficult to rush through. Moreover, the vagueness was brought to the Constitutional Tribunal — especially after the impeachment of President Martín Vizcarra. But it failed to clearly (re)define the clause and chose to treat the impeachment as a fait accompli.
But, moreover, other government efforts have not been enough to address the politically motivated use of the presidential impeachment tool. Consequently, the tool has turned out to be a mechanism of political control rather than a mechanism of accountability of the president. It is vital to address the vagueness in the stated clause. Strengthening political institutions including political parties is vital — along with the efforts to restore public trust. But a commitment of political leaders including the leaders of Congress is needed.
Amir M Sayem
Chief Editor
Dhaka Opinion Magazine
