Six Peruvian cabinet ministers resigned on Monday in a reshuffle that occurred during an investigation into how President Dina Boluarte acquired and has been seen wearing Rolex watches.
Peru is embroiled in a scandal known as Rolexgate, and the first to resign was Interior Minister Victor Torres, two days after police under his command raided and searched the president's home and office.
Five other ministers resigned a few hours later. They were responsible for women's issues, education, rural development, production, and foreign trade.
The government did not provide an explanation for the resignations, but they occurred two days before the new prime minister, Gustavo Adrianzen, and his cabinet were scheduled to be sworn in before congress, as planned a month ago.
On Monday night, Boluarte swore in six new ministers to replace those who departed.
Torres stated after a cabinet meeting that he was stepping down for personal reasons.
However, his resignation was widely viewed as a consequence of the weekend raids targeting the president. He has also faced substantial criticism in congress due to a significant rise in street crime.
Torres mentioned that he coordinated his departure with Boluarte. "I am leaving because I asked the lady and she accepted," Torres told reporters.
Peruvian politics is unstable — the country has witnessed six different presidents in the past eight years.
The latest controversy began in mid-March when a news program disclosed that Boluarte, who has a very low approval rating, possesses several expensive Rolex timepieces whose acquisition is unclear. She earns about $55,000 annually.
Boluarte, who is 61 years old, has not provided any clarity apart from stating that the watches are the result of hard work throughout her life.
She is currently the subject of a corruption investigation to determine if she has unlawfully enriched herself since assuming power in December 2022 and for failing to declare the watches as part of her assets.
Boluarte is set to provide a formal statement to investigators on Friday and has been directed to present any Rolex watches in her possession during that meeting.
None were discovered in the dramatic raids conducted from Friday night into Saturday.
Boluarte came to power in December 2022 after then President Pedro Castillo attempted to dissolve Congress and govern by decree, leading to his arrest and violent protests calling for her resignation and fresh elections.
She is also facing a constitutional complaint regarding the crackdown on those protests, which resulted in the deaths of over 50 people.
If indicted in the Rolex case, a trial could not occur until after her term concludes in July 2026, or she is impeached, according to the constitution.
Congress could potentially seek her removal based on "moral incapacity," but this would necessitate the unlikely cooperation of the right-leaning groups that control the legislature — Boluarte's primary support — with their left-wing adversaries.
AFP
