Opposition legislators have moved to impeach Peruvian President Pedro Castillo   (File: Guadalupe Pardo/AP Photo)

Lima, November 26 (RHC)-- Opposition legislators in Peru’s Congress have presented a motion to impeach President Pedro Castillo.  The motion on Thursday, which was supported by the party of narrowly defeated right-wing presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori, cited “moral inability” to govern.  It has the signatures of 28 legislators.

It will need 52 votes from the 130-seat body to begin impeachment proceedings.  A vote is not yet scheduled and a final vote to remove Castillo would eventually require 87 votes.

Pedro Castillo, who was elected president in July, dismissed the move on Thursday.  “I am not worried about the political noise because the people have chosen me, not the mafias or the corrupt,” he said during a speech in the Andean region of Jauja.

Thousands of Castillo supporters marched outside Congress in Lima on Thursday to protest against the impeachment effort.  “The right [in Congress] is not allowing to govern, and that is just the reason for us to go out and protest strongly.  This is only a start because we will achieve our purpose, to close that Congress of obstructors,” Pedro Lino, a Castillo supporter from Huancavelica, told The Associated Press news agency.

Peru’s Congress, which generally leans to the right, has a history of controversial impeachments.  In November 2020, Congress voted to impeach President Martin Vizcarra. His predecessor, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, resigned amid allegations he bought votes.

Despite a presidential term lasting five years, the Latin American country has had five presidents since 2016.