LIMA – Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra dissolved Congress on Monday to end a yearlong battle with rightwing lawmakers over his anti-graft campaign, but rebel legislators refused to leave the chamber as protests against them started across the country.
Peru’s worst political crisis in two decades threatens unrest in the world’s No. 2 copper producer and one of the region’s most robust economies.
Vizcarra vowed to call new legislative elections to let voters weigh a dispute he said stymied his bid to stamp out graft in the ruling class.
Opposition representatives cried “Dictator” after Vizcarra invoked a constitutional article allowing presidents to dissolve the Congress, and immediately voted to declare him temporarily suspended, naming Vice President Mercedes Araoz to replace him.(Reuters)
