Peru’s Congress slaps former President Vizcarra with new 10-year ban

Vizcarra has thus three disqualifications in force

Peru’s one-house Congress disqualified former President Martin Vizcarra (2018-2020) for 10 years from holding public office due to his 2019 dissolution of Parliament, marking his third such sanction. The decision, approved late Wednesday with 67 votes in favor, 11 against, and 3 abstentions, followed a reconsideration of an earlier April 30 vote that lacked sufficient support.

The resolution claims Vizcarra violated Article 134 of the Constitution by improperly using a question of confidence to halt the appointment of magistrates, a move he justified as constitutional and aimed at fighting corruption.

According to the Subcommittee on Constitutional Accusations, the election of those judges could not be the subject of a question of confidence, it was argued. At that time, Vizcarra claimed his decision fell within constitutional attributions. The question of confidence to stop the appointment of those magistrates was raised by then-Prime Minister Salvador del Solar. Attempts to disqualify del Solar and Vicente Zeballos were dropped, with del Solar excluded due to a legal statute of limitations.

Vizcarra has thus three disqualifications in force. The first one from April 2021, for a term of 10 years, due to his secret vaccination during the Covid-19 pandemic, a case known as “Vaccinagate.” The second, dated May 2022, was for five years for allegedly having had links with private companies during his tenure as Minister of Transport and Communications in the government of Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (PPK).