Peru: the ex-president criticizes the new power, demonstrations throughout the country

Photo of author

By admin

Three days after being ousted, former Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra once again questioned the legitimacy of the new power on Thursday, while thousands of protesters across the country expressed their rejection of new President Manuel Merino.

“The legality is in question and the legitimacy, which gives the people, we see it in the street” with the demonstrations against the new president Manuel Merino, declared Mr. Vizcarra in front of the office of the prosecutor, where he was to be heard in a alleged corruption case which earned him his dismissal.

Less than two months after a first attempt, the Peruvian parliament voted on Monday to dismiss the popular head of state for moral incapacity, amid accusations of alleged bribes he received as governor in 2014.

“Even the Organization of American States (OAS) has requested that the Constitutional Court rule” on the legality of the impeachment procedure, said the former head of state.

The interim Peruvian president, opponent Manuel Merino, until then at the head of Parliament, called Thursday for calm. “We are not going to put in place a brutal change”, he assured, after having installed his government, with a conservative majority.

When he took office on Tuesday, he assured that he would respect the calendar of the next general elections scheduled for April 11, 2021 and leave power on July 28, 2021, the day on which Mr. Vizcarra’s mandate was to end.

” It is for us “

Martin Vizcarra, who enjoys record popularity, also defended the right of his supporters to demonstrate peacefully, as his impeachment has given rise since Tuesday to several rallies in Lima and other cities of the country.

On Thursday, thousands of people once again carried out “cacerolazos”, the concerts of saucepans used in Latin America to express their anger.

Often dressed in black, they gathered, not only in Lima but also in several cities of the country.

In the capital, a group trying to reach Congress was dispersed by the police with tear gas. The demonstrators burned objects and threw stones and sticks at the police.

“A dozen demonstrators were arrested,” said Mar Pérez, lawyer for the Coordination of Human Rights on América Noticias television.

“It’s not for Vizcarra, it’s for us,” was it written on a banner in the capital where riot police cordoned off the area around Parliament. “This Parliament is a pandemic that does not stop”, “even the covid has not hurt us as much as Merino”, it was written on others as the demonstrators marched peacefully.

“We do not agree with Parliament. it was not necessary ”to remove the popular president Martin Vizcarra, declared to AFP Irene Aguilar who paraded with her daughter.

“The people defend democracy against the abuse of power,” said centrist MP Gino Costa, who voted against impeachment.

“We must appeal to the population to express themselves peacefully (…) demonstrations must be authorized”, insisted Mr. Vizcarra. “We also appeal to the national police to respect the demonstrators.”

The South America office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has called on the authorities to guarantee the rights of Peruvians to protest, saying they have received “worrying information” about police behavior during protests .

“The police have an obligation to respect international standards on the use of force at all times,” said police representative Jan Jarab.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) expressed on Twitter Thursday its “concern at the excessive use of force”.

Martin Vizcarra “categorically” denies having received 600,000 dollars in bribes in 2014 in exchange for public works contracts when he was governor of the region of Moquegua (south).

It is on the basis of these accusations that his dismissal was voted.

Supported by the population for his anti-corruption crusade, Mr. Vizcarra found himself at the head of the country after the resignation in 2018 of his predecessor, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, of which he was the vice-president.

Leave a Comment