By Marco Aquino

LIMA (Reuters – Hundreds of people gathered around Congress, capital Lima to support and protest President Pedro Castillo ahead of Tuesday’s vote regarding whether or not to impeach this under-fire leftist president.

Peruvian lawmakers are expected to vote whether or not they will initiate an impeachment proceeding for moral incapacity. However, Castillo has struggled with crises since his election.

Castillo’s Marxist Peru Libre party had considered backing the motion at one time. However, on Monday, they backed the president, despite having differences with him about policy, and declared the attempted coup a right-wing coup.

“We want him to keep working,” said María Lázaro Cornelio, a protester supporting Castillo, a former school teacher who came to office in July pledging major social change. We want him to honor the promises he made.”

Another protester who went by the name Jacky said that she wanted Castillo to be fired because he was accused of “destroying Peru”, destroying our economy, and threatening all Peruvians’ freedoms.

Castillo’s talks earlier in the week with political parties have led to the impeachment campaign, which is supported by Keiko Fujimori (right-wing lawmaker, defeated presidential candidate), seeming to be losing steam.

According to Vice President Dina Boluarte, “The problem of vacant jobs is slowly being reduced,” she told reporters Tuesday.

There are 43 lawmakers representing the three right-wing parties that want Castillo to be removed. For the motion to be approved, the Senate would require 52 votes and the other 130 Congressmen to pass it. If the motion is to go forward, the President will need 87 votes.

Congress is currently examining alleged corruption allegations by Castillo’s close aides. Castillo also accuses his “economic interest group” opponents of conspiring to defeat him.

It is not unusual for the fragmented Congress of Andean countries to clash with the executive.

Five presidents have been elected to the presidency of this copper-rich country since 2016. In 2018, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski resigned from the presidency minutes before an impeachment vote, while centrist Martín Vizcarra was ousted following two impeachment trials last year.