Peru: president will renew cabinet after the resignation of his prime minister

The President of Peru, Pedro Castillo, announced that he will renew his ministerial cabinet after accepting the resignation of his prime minister, Aníbal Torres, result of a new struggle with Congress, in a surprise message to the country at the edge of midnight on Thursday.

“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 his message broadcast from the Government Palace on state television.

The resignation occurs in the midst of a new confrontation between the leftist Executive and the legislature, controlled by the right-wing benches. Just hours before the resignation was announced, the head of Congress, José Williams, announced that “the Board of Directors flatly rejects the question (of the vote) of confidence” raised by the resigning prime minister a week ago. The head of the legislature argued that the decision was made without the need for the plenary to debate the government’s proposal “because it deals with prohibited matters for the approach of said issue,” according to the law.

The government resorted to the figure of the vote of confidence regarding a bill of the Executive in which it proposes to propose a referendum, without going through the filter of Congress. Torres, a 79-year-old lawyer who took office in February, had warned that he would resign if Congress did not debate the referendum bill. Castillo wants to promote a referendum on the Constituent Assembly to change the Magna Carta (1993) that promotes the free market and made Peru one of the most open economies in the region, but also one with the greatest inequality.

The resigning is the fourth chief of staff to leave office since Castillo took office 16 months ago.

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The ghost of the coup

The Peruvian president must name a fifth cabinet in the coming days, at a time when he is facing six investigations by the prosecution for alleged corruption and collusion. 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 in charge of coordinating among the members of the cabinet and managing the relations of the Executive with the other branches of the State. The new chief of staff must be ratified by Congress within a maximum period of 30 days from the day of his appointment by Castillo.

The Peruvian president could be removed by Congress.

In the event that Congress denies a vote of confidence to the new cabinet, the government considers that it is legally empowered to dissolve Congress in accordance with the Peruvian Constitution. “The president has said it in his message to the nation: that confidence in the executive power has been denied and that is why the cabinet in crisis is going to renew the cabinet and based on that there will be a new premier or a new premier” Labor Minister Alejandro Salas, a government spokesman, told RPP radio.

This clarification opens the doors to an interpretation since Congress has said that it has not denied Torres’ confidence, but rather that his request was rejected as inadmissible, which is why it was not debated in plenary. Torres accompanied Castillo since his time as a candidate for the presidency and was appointed Minister of Justice in the first ministerial cabinet of the Government, a position he held until February. In addition to the judicial siege, Castillo has faced two impeachment attempts from Congress and has a disapproval rate of 66 percent, according to polls.

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The OAS in action

This growing tension led Castillo to denounce an alleged coup in progress and ask the Organization of American States (OAS) to intervene, invoking the Inter-American Democratic Charter. Precisely, an OAS mission visited Lima this week and met with authorities and opponents to take the pulse of the struggle between powers. The new political crisis broke out on the same day that a commission from the Congress agreed to process an accusation by the prosecution against Castillo, who is being investigated for alleged corruption and asks to temporarily remove him from office.

Castillo, in power since July 2021, has already faced two impeachment attempts in Congress. He further alleges that he cannot be investigated until the end of the mandate, in July 2026.