Fujimoristas angle to oust Peru's head prosecutor (Nov. 22, 2017)

An attempt by right-wing Fuerza Popular party in Peru to oust the country's head prosecutor has been strongly criticized by other parties and protested by the judicial sector, reports La República.

On Monday the Congressional Permanent Commission voted to investigate head prosecutor Pablo Sánchez for alleged mismanagement in relation to details of political corruption stemming from Brazilian testimony in the Lava Jato case. But the move, pushed only by the Fujimorista Fuerza Popular party has been criticized as politicized and unfounded, reports La Mula.

Gustavo Gorriti calls the accusation a "monument to hypocrisy, lying, and political duplicity," in IDL Reporteros. Instead, he points to allegations that Fuerza Popular leader Keiko Fujimori received illicit campaign contributions in her 2011 presidential run, as well as investigations into an important Fuerza Popular advisor, as a possible motives for the sudden opposition to Sánchez. 

La República reports that Fujimori herself ordered the accusations against Sánchez in retaliation for investigations against her and associates.

And Allan Wagner of Transparencia, in an interview with El Comercio, warned that the move against Sánchez could in fact hinder the Lava Jato investigation.

Gorriti, and others, point to the similarities between Fuerza Popular's current attempt against Sánchez and the coup by party leader President Alberto Fujimori in 1992. However, actually ousting Sánchez will require a two-thirds vote by the entire Congress. Fuerza Popular would have to attract some other party, which currently seems unlikely, according to La Mula.

The move is part of a broader push against the Executive branch and independent agencies like the Public Ministry, argues a lawmaker from Pablo Pedro Kuczynski's party, in La Mula.

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