Peru: Constitutional Court to Analyze Lawsuit Against Congress

On Thursday, the Peruvian Constitutional Court will begin processing the unconstitutionality lawsuit filed by President Pedro Castillo's administration against Congress, which enacted a law that will repeatedly allow lawmakers to deny their confidence vote to the Cabinet.

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Once the lawsuit is formally admitted, Congress will have 30 business days to prepare its defense. Later, both parties will submit their arguments before a hearing in the Constitutional Court.

The Castillo administration holds the new law is unconstitutional because it prevents the President from dissolving a legislature if lawmakers fail to approve a cabinet on two consecutive occasions. If the Court finds that the law is not unconstitutional, then Congress could potentially deny the cabinet appointments indefinitely and shut down the government.

"This case holds great importance as it questions the attributions of the Executive Branch and could shift the balance of power in favor of the Legislative for years to come," Constitutional Judge Eloy Espinosa said.

In 2018, during the analysis of a similar case, the Court ruled that the Peruvian constitution provides the Executive Branch with a wide range of possibilities to seek political support from Congress in order to assure proper governance in the country.

During the last few months, the opposition-controlled Congress has sought to prevent President Castillo from forming his cabinet. On September, for example, lawmakers asked Labor Minister Iber Maravi to resign, arguing that he had been involved with terrorist organizations in the 1990s. Shortly after, he resigned due to pressure.

Recently, right-wing lawmakers reaffirmed that they will not grant their confidence vote to Castillo's current nominees. Some analysts and lawmakers have warned that these actions could be part of a plan to destabilize his administration and foster a coup d'etat.