Peru’s Congress officially named Vice President Dina Boluarte as head of state on Wednesday (7) after a failed attempt by now-former President Pedro Castillo to try to oust Parliament. She becomes the first female president of the South American nation.
Despite being an ally of Castillo, shortly after the president’s announcement, Boluarte condemned the dismissal on his Twitter account and accused the leftist of “perpetrating the breach of the constitutional order”. “It is a blow that aggravates the political and institutional crisis that Peruvian society will have to overcome with strict compliance with the law,” she added.
Earlier, lawmakers ignored Castillo’s order and approved the populist politician’s vacancy motion. The mechanism, a kind of impeachment, was approved with 101 votes in favor, 6 against and 10 abstentions – 87 votes were needed for approval. The result, incidentally, is far superior to the last two votes that tried to remove the current president from power under accusations of corruption and “moral incapacity”.
Dina Boluarte, 60, graduated as a lawyer from the University of San MartÃn de Porres and specialized in Administrative Law and Public Management, Constitutional Law, Constitutional Procedural Law and Human Rights.
In addition to being Vice President, she was named Minister of Development and Social Inclusion in the Castillo government shortly after Castillo took office. She, however, left office after the appointment of Betsy Chávez as president of the Council of Ministers – a kind of prime minister in the country.
The now new head of state is affiliated with Perú Libre, a left-wing party to which Castillo was also a member when he was elected president in July last year. He, however, abandoned the legend in June, and the acronym went to opposition.
Castillo is accused by his former supporters of not having put the party’s program into practice or of having fulfilled his electoral promises. Instead, the caption states that the president has been implementing a “losing neoliberal program”.
This Wednesday, after the failed attempt to dismiss the Parliament, Castillo was arrested by the Peruvian Federal Police in the City Hall of Lima after leaving the Government Palace. The future of the now ex-president is still uncertain.
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