Peruvian leadership in disarray
LIMA: Peru’s interim president, Manuel Merino, resigned yesterday, leaving the country in limbo and without a leader after politicians demanded he step down following the deaths of two people in protests over the sudden ouster of his predecessor.
Merino had been in office for less than a week, after Peru’s Congress voted last Tuesday to remove Martin Vizcarra as president over bribery allegations, which he denies.
Politicians met yesterday to determine who should be the country’s next president, or at least, how he or she might be chosen.
In a televised speech at midday, Merino, the former head of Congress who had led the push to impeach Vizcarra, asked his Cabinet to remain in place to assist in the transition. He said his resignation was ‘‘irrevocable’’ and called for ‘‘peace and unity.’’
Peruvians poured on to the streets to celebrate Merino’s departure, waving flags, chanting and banging pots. But the announcement nonetheless plunges Peru deeper into uncertainty and legal disarray as politicians now wrestle with who will take his place. — Reuters