Pressure mounts against Peru's president as lawmakers submit request to remove her from office
Updated 10:01 PM CDT, April 1, 2024
LIMA, Peru (AP) — Pressure mounted against Peruvian President Dina Boluarte on Monday as lawmakers submitted to Parliament a request to remove her from office for “permanent moral incapacity” three days after police broke down the front door of her residence to search for luxury watches tied to an investigation.
The request was submitted by lawmakers from various parties including Peru Libre to which Boluarte once belonged. To remove Boluarte, the move requires 87 votes from the 130-seat unicameral Parliament, and so far, five parties that together have 54 votes expressed support for the president following the raid.
Boluarte is being preliminarily investigated for allegedly acquiring an undisclosed collection of luxury watches since becoming vice president and social inclusion minister in July 2021 and then president in December 2022. She has denied the illicit enrichment accusations.
Lawmakers in their request cite the investigation against Boluarte as well as countrywide problems, such as rise in crime.
Late Friday, armed police officers broke down the front door of Boluarte’s house with a battering ram in search of Rolex watches as part of the investigation. The raid marked the first time in Peru’s history that police forcibly entered the home of a sitting president.
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