Peru’s President Pedro Castillo has announced the immediate dissolution of congress and the installation of a “government of exception” to rule by decree until new legislative elections – just hours before he was due to face an impeachment vote in a dramatic escalation of his fight with the opposition-led chamber.
The announcement on Wednesday was the latest dramatic twist in Castillo’s tumultuous 17 months in power which has already seen five cabinets, six criminal investigations and two failed attempts to impeach him.
In a televised national address, Castillo ordered a night-time curfew and the reorganisation of the judiciary and prosecutor’s office, which is investigating him for alleged corruption and influence-trafficking – charges which he denies.
The move immediately prompted mass resignations from the cabinet, including the foreign minister, César Landa, and the economy minister, Kurt Burneo. Minutes before Castillo’s address, the commander of the army, Walter Córdova, also resigned.
“I strongly condemn this coup d’état and call on the international community to assist in the democratic re-establishment of democracy in Peru,” tweeted Landa. “Castillo took this decision without my knowledge or support.”
Opposition lawmakers immediately called the move illegal and a coup, and have refused to leave the congress building. They say they will proceed with the scheduled impeachment debate and vote.
Castillo’s announcement prompted comparisons with the notorious “autogolpe” of April 1992, in which the then president, Alberto Fujimori, dissolved congress and sent soldiers and tanks on to the streets of Lima.
“What has happened in Peru is a coup d’état,” said Fernando Tuesta, a political science professor at Lima’s Pontifical Catholic University. “Nothing announced by former president Pedro Castillo is allowed by the constitution.”
“He is usurping power and is not to be obeyed,” Tuesta said.
