Peru’s President Martin Vizcarra
LIMA, Oct 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The head of Peru’s dissolved Congress presented a legal appeal to the country’s top court seeking to suspend the closure of parliament on the grounds that President Martín Vizcarra had exceeded his constitutional powers.
Vizcarra dissolved Congress late last month and swore in a new Cabinet last week following a lengthy stand-off with lawmakers over his anti-corruption reforms.
Pedro Olaechea, the former Congress president who now leads the smaller permanent parliamentary commission, submitted the appeal requesting the “arbitrary” dissolution of Congress be suspended.
The move marks one of the last throws of the dice for Congress after Vizcarra appeared to outmanoeuvre the opposition-controlled legislature, which had long blocked his reforms.
The stand-off with Congress also involved a conflict over the appointment of new judges to Peru’s Constitutional Tribunal, the top court, adding an extra edge to proceedings.
The past three years in Peru have been marked by repeated clashes between the executive and legislative branches and back-to-back corruption scandals, including one that led former President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski to resign in March last year. — NNN-AGENCIES
