Peru's president dissolved the country's parliament triggering a bitter power struggle with congress over who will govern the South American nation
A bitter struggle between Peru's president and congress over who will govern the South American country threatened to become a lengthy and destabilising legal battle as each side dug in Tuesday amid the deepest constitutional crisis in nearly three decades.
"It seems we are facing a protracted political crisis, with the dispute potentially ending up before courts," said Maria Luisa Puig, an analyst for the Eurasia Group consultancy. Teresa Tintaya was among a handful of protesters outside congress Tuesday yelling phrases like, "Garbage congress, the people hate you!"Even before the turmoil, the nation was already on shaky political ground. Nearly every living former president has been ensnared in the mammoth Odebrecht corruption scandal, in which the Brazilian construction heavyweight admitted to funneling money to politicians around Latin America in exchange for handsome public works contracts.
Under Peru's law, Vizcarra is entitled to dissolve congress if it rejects two votes of confidence in his administration. Whether or not two such votes have taken place is at the crux of the conflict between the executive and legislative branches. Pedro Olaechea, president of the dissolved legislature, said Tuesday that he and others believe the president's act was a "new sort of coup." He said lawmakers are deciding how to proceed but that what is likely to follow will be a "lengthy, tedious and delicate legal matter.
Though the terms for all six magistrates had expired, Vizcarra, legal observers and human rights groups criticized the congressional action for its speed and lack of transparency. The newspaper El Comercio reported Monday that six of the candidates up for consideration are facing potential criminal or civil charges for offenses including kidnapping, extortion and sex abuse.
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