Attempt to oust Peruvian president fails in congress

Lima, March 29 (RHC)-- A parliamentary motion to remove President Pedro Castillo failed Tuesday when it was rejected by the Peruvian Parliament by 73 votes.  A total of 55 voted in favor of the measure.

The vote culminated a grueling session of more than 12 hours, with speeches in which each member of Congress stated his or her position, and there were tense moments in the heat of the controversy.

The final slate showed 55 votes in favor of the vacancy and 73 in disagreement with it, a majority that breaks down into 54 votes against and 19 abstentions.

From the beginning of the speeches, it was constantly heard the certainty of the opponents of the vacancy, that this measure does not guarantee a solution to the ongoing crisis that is on its way to its sixth year. Therefore it would not reach the two-thirds of votes needed for its approval.

The insufficient number of votes was acknowledged by the speakers of the vacancy camp who, together with their attacks on Castillo, regretted in advance the adverse outcome.

After the result, the President issued a brief message in which he welcomed "the fact that good sense, responsibility, and democracy have prevailed".

"I recognize the parliamentarians who voted against the vacancy, and I respect the decision of those who did. I call on everyone to close this page and work together for the country's great challenges," he added.

The President cleared doubts about his attendance to the crucial session when he introduced himself and offered a brief speech in which he disqualified the 20 arguments contained in the motion of vacancy by qualifying them as assertions without corroboration or under investigation, quotes from the press and accusations discarded by the same Parliament in the first attempt to remove him from office.

After his speech, he left the legislative palace and his lawyer, Jose Felix Palomino, who refuted in detail the charges of corruption and others invoked by the motion.

After the session, six ministers who participated and did not intervene hailed the result as a triumph of democracy and called for agreement and joint work between the Executive and the Legislature to address the country's problems.