Peruvian President announces Prime Minister’s resignation and will renew Cabinet for the 5th time

Peruvian President Pedro Castillo announced he will renew his ministerial cabinet after accepting the resignation of his prime minister, Aníbal Torres, as a result of a renewed dispute with Congress, in a surprise message to the country around midday. this Thursday night (24).

“Having accepted the resignation of the prime minister, whom I thank for his work for the country, I will renew the cabinet,” Castillo said in the message broadcast from the Government Palace on state television.

Former prime minister Aníbal Torres, a staunch Castillo ally, challenged the opposition-controlled Congress to a confidence vote last week, but parliament declined to hold such a vote on Thursday, saying the conditions for it were not met. met.

Torres, a 79-year-old lawyer, is the fourth chief of staff to step down since Castillo took office 16 months ago.

It is a tradition in Peru that all ministers place their positions at the disposal of the president when the prime minister resigns, who is responsible for coordinating the cabinet members and managing the Executive’s relations with the other powers of the State.

The Peruvian president will have to appoint a fifth cabinet in the coming days, at a time when he faces six investigations by the Public Prosecutor’s Office for alleged corruption and collusion.

Opposition lawmakers have already tried twice to remove Castillo, but failed to overthrow him, although they succeeded in dismissing several ministers.

Referendum

The government resorted to the concept of a vote of confidence in relation to a bill by the Executive in which it plans to propose a referendum without going through the filter of Congress.

Castillo wants to promote a referendum in the Constituent Assembly to change the Magna Carta (1993), which promotes free markets and has transformed Peru into one of the most open economies in the region, but also with the greatest inequality.

Aníbal Torres warned that he would resign if Congress did not debate the referendum bill.

This growing tension led Castillo to denounce an alleged coup in progress and ask for intervention by the Organization of American States (OAS), invoking the Inter-American Democratic Charter.

An OAS mission visited Lima this week and met with officials and opponents to analyze the power struggle.

The new political crisis erupted on the same day that a congressional commission agreed to prosecute a prosecution charge against Castillo, who is investigated for alleged corruption, and asks to temporarily remove him from office.