'Rolexgate': why is the future of the Peruvian government being decided today in Congress?

ANDhe new cabinet of the president of Peru, Dina Boluarte, the third in 16 months, will seek this Wednesday to obtain a crucial vote of confidence in Congress that allows him to remain in office despite a luxury watch scandal that is shaking the government.

The new president of the council of ministers, Gustavo Adrianzén, will speak before the plenary session of the unicameral parliament starting at 9 am local time (also Colombia time) the general policy that will be developedafter which a debate is opened before voting, so the session can last for many hours.

Congress is controlled by a majority of right-wing and right-wing parties, supported by Boluarte, who lacks his own bench.

The Constitution stipulates that The new cabinets must receive the vote of confidence from Congress 30 days after your appointment.

If it is denied, Boluarte must appoint a new one. The government needs the half plus one endorsement of the legislators attending the plenary session.

In total there are 130 congressmen. Adrianzén, a 57-year-old lawyer who was ambassador to the OAS, changed six ministers on Monday, several of them questioned by Congress.

On March 6 he replaced Alberto Otárola, who resigned due to a love scandal.

With Boluarte, there are six presidents affected by corruption cases so far in the 21st century.

The chief of staff comes in the middle of the investigation that the prosecution is carrying out against Boluarte for alleged illicit enrichment, as a result of an undetermined number of Rolex watches and jewelry that he did not declare among his assets.

With Boluarte, there are six presidents affected by corruption cases so far in the 21st century. Since 2016, Peru has had six leaders.

The power of Congress

A rejection would weaken his fragile government, hit by 'Rolexgate', as the press called the case that broke out in mid-March after a journalistic complaint from the digital media La Encerrona.

The scandal exploded when his popularity did not exceed 10% in the polls.

There are indications that the right will give the confidence to avoid an escalation that could lead to an early general election before the scheduled date, in 2026.

“We must give the vote of confidence to guarantee governability. “We are in a crisis situation.”Congressman Jorge Montoya, from the Popular Renewal party, told reporters.

From the minority left they assure that they will vote “against the trust,” parliamentarian Sigrid Bazán told RPP radio.

Rolexgate scenarios

The president will explain this Friday to the prosecutor's office the origin of her collection, but its fate depends more on Congress than on justice, where the left promotes his dismissal.

Boluarte, 61 years old and who assumed power in December 2022 to replace the dismissed and imprisoned Pedro Castillo after a failed self-coup, will be heard by prosecutors for the first time since police raided her home and presidential office on March 30.

Its future is uncertain, despite the fact that it is played by two separate ropes: the judicial and the political.

Its future “is uncertain, despite the fact that it is played by two separate ropes: the judicial and the political,” analyst Augusto Alvarez Rodrich told AFP.

The prosecution can only investigate it for eight months, since it began in March. To accuse her, he must wait until his term ends in July 2026, as established by the Constitution.

So it would be in “the political field, Congress, where it will be decided whether she remains in the presidency,” Alvarez stressed.

The prosecution has already been investigating Boluarte since 2023 for the alleged crimes of “genocide, qualified homicide and serious injuries”for the death of more than 50 civilians “during social mobilizations between December 2022 and January 2023” that called for his resignation and early elections.

On Monday, parliament began processing a motion for vacancy (dismissal) due to “permanent moral incapacity” presented by Perú Libre, a leftist party to which Boluarte belonged.

The request is supported by 30 congressmen, but to be admitted to debate it requires more than 50 votes from the 130 legislators. Only later would a political trial begin.

To remove her, it is necessary to gather more than 86 votes. The left has already presented two vacancy motions against Boluarte, but neither was admitted to debate.

AFP