On Friday (October 10), in the early hours of the morning, Peruvian President Dina Boluarte faced a parliamentary vote of no confidence. This deeply unpopular president was forced to step down due to her failure to curb the rampant wave of crime sweeping the nation.
Late Thursday night, after four motions of no confidence were passed, the 130-seat Peruvian unicameral Congress began debating and deliberating on the impeachment case against the president. Lawmakers accused Boluarte’s government of being unable to control crime.
The legislators demanded that Boluarte appear before Congress to defend herself before midnight, but she did not show up. Just after midnight, all 124 lawmakers voted in favor of the president’s removal.
Just hours before Parliament initiated the impeachment proceedings, a shooting incident at a concert in Lima reignited public anger over the crime issue.
Unlike the previous eight impeachment attempts, nearly all lawmakers expressed support for the motion to impeach the president this time.
In the early hours of Friday, Peruvian Congress President, 38-year-old lawyer José Jerí, was sworn in as interim president, replacing Boluarte to serve out the remainder of her term. Boluarte’s original term was scheduled to end on July 28, 2026.
In Peru, the normal presidential term is five years. Boluarte was the country’s first female president and the sixth head of state in less than a decade.
The elections are scheduled to be held in April next year. Jerí stated that he will defend Peru’s sovereignty and will transfer power to the winner of the election.
In December 2022, former Peruvian President Pedro Castillo was impeached by Congress using the same mechanism, leading to Boluarte assuming office as the Vice President at that time.
Castillo was impeached after attempting to dissolve Congress to avoid removal, being ousted after only two years of his five-year term, with Boluarte stepping in to finish the remaining term.
Within three months of Boluarte assuming the presidency, over 500 protest activities erupted nationwide, demanding her resignation.
Boluarte’s government’s inability to curb the increasingly rampant crime issues in Peru ultimately became the catalyst for her downfall.
On Wednesday (October 8), Boluarte blamed part of the crime problem on illegal immigrants within the country.
“This crime crisis has been brewing for decades, exacerbated by the issue of illegal immigration – successive governments have failed to solve it,” she said at a military event. “On the contrary, they have thrown open the doors allowing criminals to freely enter… with no restrictions.”
Official data shows that from January to mid-August of this year, Peru recorded 6,041 homicides, the highest number for the same period since 2017. During the same period, extortion cases reached 15,989, a 28% increase compared to the previous year.
On Wednesday, a violent incident that shocked the nation erupted, further fueling the political crisis of Boluarte’s government. At that time, a man opened fire at a concert by Peru’s most popular cumbia band “Agua Marina,” injuring five people.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Eduardo Arana defended Boluarte at a congressional hearing on crime issues, but failed to prevent lawmakers from advancing the motion to impeach the president.
Arana told lawmakers, “The Congress’s concerns will not be alleviated by initiating impeachment proceedings, let alone approving them. We are not clinging to power, but we are well aware that from the moment we stepped into Parliament, it could be our last day in office.”
Meanwhile, Boluarte was embroiled in several scandals, facing multiple investigations, including failure to declare her expensive Rolex watches, going into hiding for two weeks after a nose job in 2023, and causing the death of 60 people during the crackdown on protesting crowds in 2022, sparking public outrage.
According to polls, Boluarte’s approval rating stood at only 2% to 3%, making her one of the most unpopular leaders globally.
(This article is based on a report from Reuters)