Peru’s interim president, Manuel Merino has stepped down from the nation’s presidency after two protesters were killed during protests against his administration.
He announced his resignation in a televised address that was widely celebrated by citizens who cheered, banged pots and sounded car horns especially in neighbourhoods across the Peruvian capital.
“I want to let the whole country know that I’m resigning,” Merino said in Sunday’s address, adding that the move was “irrevocable” and called for “peace and unity”.
The former speaker of congress who replaced impeached President Martín Vizcarra, was barely a week old in office before stepping down amid calls by politicians for his resignation after a violent crackdown on demonstrations against him.
It is worthwhile to note that the protests demanding Merino’s resignation were due to the abrupt replacement of the popular former president Martín Vizcarra by Merino, a little-known politician with a questionable track record.
Protesters accuse Congress of staging a parliamentary coup to oust Mr Vizcarra, 57, who continues to enjoy support among many voters for his attempts at reform.
Mr. Martín Vizcarra earned several political enemies during his two years in office, as he worked to combat corruption throughout the country’s legislature.
Half of the lawmakers are under investigation or indictment for alleged crimes including money laundering and homicide.
Last week, the lawmakers has earlier used an unusual clause of the country’s constitution to remove the president for “moral incapacity,” and accused him of accepting more than $630,000 in bribes as governor of a local province some years ago. A charge that the ex-president Vizcarra vehemently denied.
Prior to Merino’s resignation, 12 ministers from Merino’s recently appointed cabinet turned in their resignation on Sunday citing protest against police brutality and his handling of the crisis as a major concern.
In the meantime, a new list, made up of an interim president and senior politicians from across the spectrum is being drafted.
The congress is also holding an emergency session to replace Merino with the fifth president in five years.
Ex-President Vizcarra has asked the country’s highest court to weigh in saying that “It can’t be that the institution that got us into this political crisis, that has for five days paralyzed Peru, with deaths, is going to give us a solution, choosing the person who they best see fit.”
