Peru’s congress ready to replace scandal-tainted president

Peru’s congress was expected to vote Friday to accept President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski’s resignation and swear in as his replacement a politician who the vast majority of voters never even heard of until recently.

Vice President Martin Vizcarra received something of a hero*s welcome shortly after midnight Friday when he arrived to Peru from Canada, where he had been serving as ambassador, amid one of the most politically turbulent periods in Peru’s recent history.

Supporters welcomed him at the airport with a large cake in the red and white colors of Peru’s flag celebrating his 55th birthday Thursday. A marching band was on hand and some people carried signs reading “Peru is with Vizcarra.”

“With faith and optimism, Peru will always move forward,” he said in brief remarks from his home.

But a last-minute hitch Friday threatened to delay the transition of power.

Kuczynski said in a tweet that the proposed language of a congressional resolution approving his resignation is “unacceptable,” and if lawmakers press forward with the wording he would reverse his decision to quit, forcing congress to go forward with plans to try and impeach him.

Later, Congress’ President Luis Galarreta said the resolution was still being debated and that any errors would be corrected.

Efforts to oust the unpopular Kuczynski led by the daughter of former strongman Alberto Fujimori have been building for months. But the campaign went into overdrive this week after the emergence of secretly shot videos showed allies of Kuczynski, including Fujimori’s son, allegedly attempting to buy the support of an opposition lawmaker to block the president’s impeachment.

To stem off an even more disgraceful exit, Kuczynski delivered a resignation letter to congress Wednesday, blaming relentless attacks by his opponents for making it impossible to govern.

During a heated debate that ran far into Thursday night, lawmakers appeared to be leaning toward accepting the offer, although some strongly rejected Kuczynski’s justification for quitting.

Kuczynski’s downfall was his association with Odebrecht, the Brazilian construction giant that has admitted to spreading some $800 million in bribes to officials across Latin America, including $29 million in Peru.

For months, even as three of his predecessors became ensnared in the bribery scandal, Kuczynski vehemently denied having any business or political ties to the company. But documents presented by Keiko Fujimori’s Popular Force party showed his consulting firm had received $782,000 in payments from Odebrecht a decade ago, some of them when he was a government minister.

The former Wall Street investor said he wasn’t then managing the day-to-day affairs of his consulting business and denied any wrongdoing.

Stepping into the void left by Kuczynski is Vizcarra, whose name wasn’t recognized by 81 percent of Peruvians in a March poll by Ipsos. His only previous experience in public office before becoming vice president in 2016 was as governor of Peru’s second-least populated province.

While Vizcarra is expected to continue Kuczynski’s pro-business agenda, he will face a tough challenge building consensus with a hostile congress and growing public anger at Peru’s political class. Protesters scuffled with police Thursday night while calling for new elections for both president and congress.

The new president’s first test on the international stage will come in three weeks when he is expected to host President Donald Trump and other Western Hemisphere leaders at the Summit of the Americas in Lima.