The Prosecutor’s Office of the Nation of Peru announced on Thursday that it began a preliminary investigation against President Dina Boluarte for the alleged omission of her duties and/or alleged “abandonment of office” by not officially notifying that she would undergo a surgical procedure.
The former Prime Minister of Peru, Alberto Otárola, stated on Tuesday before Congress that while Boluarte was in office in 2023, he underwent rhinoplasty and after a week and a half he returned to his work in person, although he had previously worked virtual. He said he did not remember the date of the surgery.
It was the first time that a former official admitted the intervention that Boluarte would have undergone after the local press reported seven months ago that the president’s operation was at the end of June last year and she returned to her duties in July 2023. Even in the middle of this year Boluarte described the journalists’ questions as biased about retouching.
“The Attorney General’s Office, through the Area of Illicit Enrichment and Constitutional Complaints, has initiated a preliminary investigation against Dina Ercilia Boluarte Zegarra, in her capacity as President of the Republic, for the alleged crimes of omission of functional acts, and/or alternatively for the alleged crime of abandonment of office,” said the institution’s statement.
“The facts refer to the failure to communicate the temporary impediment to the exercise of the position of President of the Republic to the Council of Ministers and the Congress of the Republic, from June 29 to July 9, 2023, as a consequence of a procedure surgery to which she was subjected,” he added.
Opposition legislators said that the fact that Boluarte did not inform Congress or his team of ministers about his operation, which they consider will require several days of recovery, the president could face a new impeachment process in Parliament “for abandonment of post”.
However, Boluarte has the support in Congress of the two political groups that dominate him.
According to the law, the crime of abandonment of office occurs when an official leaves his position “without having legally ceased”; while the omission of functional acts occurs when the public servant “illegally omits, refuses or delays an act of his office.” Both are punishable by two years in prison.
In accordance with the legal procedure, the attorney general may question the president, the surgeon who operated on her and all those officials of the presidential palace—including ministers—who could confirm that the president did not perform her duties.
After concluding her preliminary investigation, the attorney general will be able to constitutionally accuse the president before Parliament, so that when Boluarte ends her term, on July 28, 2026, she can be tried before the Supreme Court, as determined by the procedure for senior officials. in Peru.
“Unfair”
The current head of the cabinet of ministers, Gustavo Adrianzén, said on Wednesday that Boluarte “never abandoned his position” and advocated confidentiality around people’s health. In addition, he described the revelation as “disloyal” and “a baseness.”
Boluarte, who assumed power at the end of 2022 after the dismissal of former president Pedro Castillo, faces other investigations by the prosecutor’s office; the last one opened in May for the alleged crime of “bribery” and illicit enrichment linked to a case of improper use of Rolex luxury watches.
He also faces an investigation into the deaths of dozens of people during the protests that occurred between the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023, after the arrest of Castillo who tried to illegally dissolve Congress.
Boluarte, 62, has rejected all accusations.
Boluarte’s popularity is the lowest for a Peruvian leader since 1980. The firm Datum Internacional reported in November that acceptance of Boluarte fell to 3%. His unpopularity rose to 94%, while 3% had no opinion.
[Con información de Reuters y AP]
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