Peru President Condemns Second Impeachment Bid in Five Weeks

(Bloomberg) -- Peru’s President Martin Vizcarra criticized a bid by a group of lawmakers to impeach him over bribery allegations, barely a month after an initial attempt to oust him over a separate graft case.

Speaking in a televised address Wednesday, Vizcarra said the impeachment effort was “at the least untimely,” coming less than six months before the country’s next general election.

A motion signed by lawmakers from four parties will be formally presented in congress Thursday. The document accuses the president of receiving bribes and lying repeatedly to the country about the allegations. It seeks his ouster on the grounds of “permanent moral incapacity.”

A vote by the South American country’s single-chamber congress on whether to start impeachment proceedings may be held as early as Friday. Several parties previously said they wouldn’t support the motion, and it’s unclear whether it will get the minimum 52 votes, equal to 40% of the chamber’s 130 seats, required for proceedings to start.

The president said he expects “common sense to prevail among lawmakers and political parties that support and strengthen democracy.”

Vizcarra, 57, is the second Peruvian leader facing impeachment proceedings in less than three years. His predecessor, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, resigned after an opposition lawmaker released videos that showed his allies apparently negotiating votes to stave off his ouster. Two other former presidents are under investigation for graft and another one is in prison.

Proper Investigation

Popular Action, the largest party in congress with 25 seats, will take a view on the motion by Thursday, spokesman Ricardo Burga said, according to El Comercio. He previously said a proper investigation would be required to justify any impeachment effort.

Luis Valdez, a spokesman for Alliance for Progress, the second-largest party in Congress, said though personally he doesn’t support impeachment, the party hasn’t discussed the motion. He said it would be best for the president to consider resigning from his post, La Republica reported.

Vizcarra has maintained high approval ratings for much of his presidency though has said he won’t stand for re-election. Without a party to defend him in congress, he’ll be vulnerable to opposition attacks until he leaves office in July.

Building Projects

Prosecutors are probing allegations that Vizcarra took 2.3 million soles ($639,000) in bribes from companies building infrastructure projects in the Moquegua region, where he was governor from 2011 to 2014. Prosecutors opened a probe into Vizcarra last week based on testimony and documents provided by construction company executives seeking a plea deal as part of a wider bribery probe.

Vizcarra denies any wrongdoing. On Monday he said political adversaries and interest groups are behind the allegations, which he called “inventions.”

Congress began impeachment proceedings against Vizcarra last month after lawmakers accused him of trying to obstruct a probe into alleged irregularities in the government’s hiring of a little-known singer to give talks at the Culture Ministry. The motion lacked the 87 votes needed for his ouster.

The latest motion was signed by lawmakers from the Union for Peru and We Can parties, which voted in favor of Vizcarra’s impeachment last month, as well as some legislators from the Broad Front and Popular Action parties.

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