A power vacuum in Peru is dragging on for a second day as lawmakers spar over who will finish out the term of impeached former president Martin Vizcarra.
The critical mining and hydrocarbons sectors, including LNG and copper exports, have not been disrupted. Essential services are also operating, but Lima's international airport was closed over the weekend as Peruvians marched to protest what was widely perceived as a congressional power grab.
The constitutional line of succession runs through the congressional president, vice presidents and speaker. None of these positions are currently filled.
The congress impeached Vizcarra on 9 November. He was replaced by congressional speaker Manuel Merino, who resigned yesterday following the historic marches. Clashes with security forces left at least two dead over the weekend.
Merino's successor as speaker, Luis Valdez, resigned shortly after Merino stepped down. Peru has two vice presidents, but one, Vizcarra, stepped into the presidency in March 2018 and the other, Mercedes Araoz, resigned in October 2019.
In tense meetings late yesterday, lawmakers initially agreed to select congresswoman Rocio Silva as interim president, but she received only 42 of 130 votes, short of the required simple majority.
Whoever is named will lead Peru until July 2021, when Vizcarra's term would have ended. Peruvians will select a new president and congress in April 2021 general elections.
Another possible outcome lies with the Constitutional Court, Peru's highest tribunal, which could invalidate the actions of the past week as unconstitutional, effectively returning Vizcarra to the presidency. The court's seven judges will meet this afternoon.
Civil society and business associations demanded swift action to address the constitutional crisis. "We demand a return to normalcy in the country so that we can continue producing, and defending the jobs and the wellbeing of the population," the national industrial society declared late yesterday.
Peru is already in the throes of a dire economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The economy contracted by 6.9pc year on year in September, the best since the pandemic began in March. GDP is down 14.5pc in the first nine months of the year, according to 16 November data from the national statistics institute.
The mining and hydrocarbons sectors, which together account for close to 60pc of Peru's export revenue, contracted by a combined 12.2pc in September, their worst month since June.
Unemployment was 16.4pc in October, compared to 6.4pc a year earlier.
