Peruvian President Dina Boluarte has been removed from office amid rising crime rates

Peru’s Congress has voted to remove President Dina Boluarty walks out of office, hours after a late-night session was called to discuss her impeachment.

An overwhelming majority of lawmakers from across the political spectrum approved her ouster on the grounds of “permanent moral incapacity.”

In a speech on national television following the vote, Bolwart questioned the implications for the stability of democracy in Peru.

Bolwarti is one of the world’s most unpopular leaders, with an approval rating of between 2 and 4 percent, and his rule has been plagued by frequent protests, scandals and investigations, as well as a rise in gang violence.

Anti-government protests have escalated in recent months amid rising crime rates. Anger was renewed earlier Thursday following a shooting during a concert in the capital, Lima.

A total of 122 out of 130 lawmakers voted to impeach Bolwarti early Friday, after a resounding vote in favor of four motions to charge him.

Congress leader Jose Giri was sworn in as interim president early Friday. Peru currently does not have a vice president.

Bolwarti did not appear before Congress for the overnight hearing. A crowd of protesters waving Peruvian flags outside the Congress building exploded in cheers after the vote was announced.

“At all times I have called for unity,” she told Peruvians after her dismissal, adding: “In this context, I did not think about myself, but about more than 34 million Peruvians who deserve better.”

The protests punctuated the 63-year-old leader’s less than three years in power, which followed the ouster and imprisonment of her predecessor, Pedro Castillo.

Her presidency has been overshadowed by several investigations, including A Corruption investigation dubbed “Rolexgate” Because of allegations that she accepted Rolex watches as bribes.

Another questioned whether she had abandoned her position when she failed to appoint an interim president while she was away having a nose operation. She has denied any wrongdoing.

In her July Her decision to double her salary to approximately 35 times the monthly minimum wage in Peru She was met with scorn and ridicule. Her economy minister at the time noted that her salary was the second lowest among 12 South American countries.

The successful attempt to remove Bolwarti on Thursday evening was the latest in a series of attempts to remove Bolwarti from office before the elections scheduled for next April.

“The only way forward is to impeach Dina Bolwart,” Congresswoman Susil Paredes said in an X post on Thursday.

Among the lawmakers who voted to remove Boluarte from office were factions that had previously been loyal to the president, including conservative parties that had previously supported her.

Boluarte rose to power in December 2022, when former President Castillo was impeached after trying to dissolve Congress to avoid his impeachment. She was promoted to this position as she was Vice President at the time.

Boluarte, Peru’s first female president, was the sixth leader of the Andean country since 2018. Three former leaders are behind bars.

In January 2023, weeks after she took power, an investigation was launched against Bolwarti and some of her key ministers on charges of “genocide, premeditated murder and serious injury.”

This came in the wake of the killing of more than 50 Castillo supporters in a government crackdown on demonstrations demanding her resignation and new elections.

In the first three months of her presidency, there were more than 500 protests against her rule.