President of Peru

Ordinarily, the president is elected to a five-year term, and is barred from immediate reelection. A former president can run again after being out of office for a full term.[7] The change of government takes place on 28 July, which is the date of independence from Spain and thus a national holiday.

The Congress of the Republic has the power to end a president's term prematurely through impeachment. Under Article 113 of the Constitution of 1993, the president can be removed due to death, "permanent moral or physical disability" determined by Congress, resignation, fleeing national territory without permission from Congress, or dismissal for committing infractions outlined in Article 117 of the Constitution.

Four presidents of Peru have attempted to resign: Guillermo Billinghurst (forced resignation), Andrés Avelino Cáceres, Alberto Fujimori, and Pedro Pablo Kuczynski. Three presidents have been impeached unsuccessfully, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, Martín Vizcarra (first impeachment), and Pedro Castillo (first and second impeachments) while the impeachments of Billinghurst, Fujimori, Vizcarra (second impeachment), and Castillo (third impeachment) have been successful.

The president is elected to a term of five years without immediate re-election.[8] A presidential inauguration is held every five years on 28 July in Congress. The last directly elected president was Pedro Castillo, who was elected for a term from 2021 to 2026. His Vice President, Dina Boluarte, a former civil servant, succeeded him as president following his impeachment after a failed coup attempt.

There have also been a number of unrecognized presidents. In 1992 and 2019, after the dissolution of the Congress, the legislative body unsuccessfully removed the president from office and swore in vice presidents as the de facto president.[9][10][11]

There are 14 presidents that became presidents through a coup d'état. The last successful coup d'état was carried out by Alberto Fujimori in 1992, who is now imprisoned for human rights violations and corruption.[12][13]

Presidential inaugurations take place in the Congress of the Republic of Peru in the capital city of Lima. Presidential inaugurations always take place on 28 July of its respective year, although in the case of constitutional succession, an inauguration is on the day that the presidential successor arrives in Lima, Peru. The presidential inauguration precedes the National Parade of the Military of Peru.

Foreign dignitaries have often assisted the democratic transition of power in Peru.

The contemporary placed presidential oath in Spanish is as follows:

Yo, Martín Alberto Vizcarra Cornejo, juro por Dios, por la patria, y por todos los peruanos que ejerceré fielmente el cargo de Presidente de la República que me ha confiado el nación para el periodo 2018 a 2021, que defenderé la soberanía nacional y la integridad física y moral de la República, que cumpliré y hare cumplir la constitución política y las leyes del Perú, y que reconocerá, respetando la libertad de corto, la importancia de la Iglesia Católica en la formación cultural y moral de los peruanos. Martín Alberto Vizcarra Cornejo, Presidential Oath of Office July 28, 2018 In English

The English translation is as follows:

I, [complete name of presidential elect], swear to God, to the Homeland, and to all Peruvians that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the Republic of Peru that has been entrusted to me by the Nation for the period [start of mandate] to [end of mandate], that I will defend the sovereignty of the nation as well as the physical and moral integrity of the Nation, that I will comply and enforce the political constitution and laws of Peru, and that I will recognize, respecting freedoms, the importance of the Roman Catholic Church in the cultural and moral formation of Peruvians.

The president of Congress conventionally holds the presidential sash before the president-elect takes the oath of office. Once the president-elect has taken the oath of office, the president is recognized by all branches of the government of Peru as the democratic president of the Republic of Peru, symbolized by the president of the Congress passing the presidential sash. The nominee is recognized as the president of Peru with and only with the presidential sash.

As of 2019, there have been two illegitimate presidential inaugurations performed by the Congress of Peru, but not recognized by either the executive branch or the armed forces: one in 1995 and the inauguration of Mercedes Aráoz in 2019 amidst a confrontation between the executive and legislative powers of Peru.

There is also an emphasis on Christianity and the Roman Catholic Church in the oath of office. All presidents of Peru have been Catholic and have taken the oath of office alongside the Christian Bible, and in front of a Catholic Crucifix.

The first state recognizable as such under current concepts in the central Andes was the Wari civilization, whose system of government has not yet been fully unraveled. Later, between the thirteenth century and the sixteenth century, the Inca civilization developed, whose State, based on the political management of reciprocity and alien to all European conceptions of then and now, had the Sapa Inca at its head.[14]

The modern Peruvian state is the heir of the Viceroyalty of Peru. In 1532, the Spanish conquerors arrived in the territory, imposed their dominion and managed to establish a Spanish dependency. This dependence began as governorships corresponding to the conquerors, with the title of Governor. The Governorate of the New Toledo (Diego de Almagro) – which otherwise never consolidated – had as its capital the city of Cusco, the current historical capital of Peru. The Governorate of the New Castile (Francisco Pizarro) had as its capital the City of Kings, as Lima was also called initially and it was on this that the viceroyalty was instituted after the civil wars.[15]

In 1542, the Viceroyalty of Peru was established, whose government was held by the representative of the king of Spain (head of state) with the title of Viceroy of Peru (head of government). The true organizer of the viceregal state was Francisco de Toledo.

This period had only two stages corresponding to the two Spanish dynasties, the houses of Habsburg and Bourbon, and lasted 282 years from its establishment in 1542 to the Capitulation of Ayacucho in 1824, despite the independence of Peru in 1821.

José Fernando de Abascal was in charge of centralizing Spanish political and military power in Peru. His successors, the last viceroys of Peru were parallel to Jose de San Martin and his first successors. Joaquín de la Pezuela and José de la Serna faced the liberating armies and the last of them signed the capitulation. Finally, Pío Tristán was the interim viceroy in charge of transferring power to the patriots.[16]

In July 1821, during the Peruvian War of Independence, the autonomous states lying in the viceroyalty of Peru declared themselves as independent and sovereign from influence and mediation from the Spanish Empire. Recognizing the impending threat of Spanish backlash to regain their lost colonies, the autonomous viceroyalty began to draft a constitution on which they would decide to base the sovereign nation. Working closely with the Constituent Congress of Peru in 1822, a formal constitution was created, named the Constitution of 1823. Francisco Xavier de Luna Pizarro, a Peruvian politician, presided and led the Constituent Congress of Peru, leading to him being subjectively regarded as the first informal President of Peru.[17]

The first articles of the 1823 Constitution consisted of 24 items, known as the "Bases". These bases formally defined the borders of the Andean nation and formally created the First Republic of Peru, which still holds until the present day. The governing board, led by Luna Pizarro, declared Peruvian autonomy from Spain and a Catholic state. Additionally, the Constitution defined the three powers of the government, the executive, judicial and the legislative power. The governing board, a colloquial terminology that was used to classify the ten politicians that devised these 24 items, was the first representation of executive power and the executive branch in Peruvian history.

Later, issues arose around the bases which granted the protectorate of Peru, Simon Bolivar, overwhelming power over the legislative and executive organs of the Peruvian government.[18] At the same time, Bolivar was already undergoing a campaign to establish a dictatorship around Andean Latin American nations. As a precursor, this incentivized the initial drafters of the constitution and the Governing Board to accelerate the process of defining reasonable executive powers, balance the three branches of power, and begin to draft an idea for the roles and powers of the official position of state leader of Peru.

The Act of Independence was signed in Lima on 15 August 1821, and soon after the government was left under the charge of José de San Martín with the title of Protector. Later, the legislative branch occupied the executive branch. In 1823 the Congress appointed José de la Riva Agüero as the first President of the Republic of the history of Peru. Since then, that has been the main denomination that has held the great majority of the rulers of Peru. The same first Political Constitution of 1823 (after the appointment of Riva Agüero) recognizes the position,[19] and says ex officio: "Article 72. Resides exclusively the exercise of executive power in a citizen with the name of President of the Republic."

Only two constitutions have been contrary, partially, to the presidential republican system, the Lifetime Political Constitution of 1826 emanating from Simón Bolívar and expressing:

The exercise of the Executive Power resides in a Life President, a Vice President, and four Secretaries of State.

By 1827, an outline of an executive along with the executive branch had been drawn out to prevent a Bolivarian dictatorship which would be seen by the populace as a general return to Spanish tyrannical rule.[20] As a result, on 28 July 1827, Manuel Salazar assumed the formal office of the presidency and became the first president of Peru to be elected by the populace, marking the start of the Presidency of Peru.

The President is head of the general administration of the Republic, and their authority extends both to the preservation of public order internally, and to external security in accordance with the Constitution and laws.

The duties exclusive to the President have been defined in the 1823 Constitution as:

1. To promulgate, execute, protect, and comply with the laws, decrees, and resolutions of the Congress of Peru and to issue the orders indispensable for its effect.
2. To have supreme command over the armed forces of Peru.
3. To order and verify democratic free elections on the days indicated by the Constitution.
4. To declare war when appropriate after being passed through the Congress of Peru.
5. To regulate and join peace treaties, alliances, and other agreements coming from foreign states according to the Constitution.
6. To oversee and determine the investment of the funds allocated by the Congress of Peru to the various branches of the public administration.
7. Appoint officers and officials of the Peruvian Armed Forces with the agreement and consent of Congress.
8. Appoint Ministers, members of the Presidential Cabinet, the Prime Minister, and diplomats with the agreement and consent of Congress.
9. Ensure the proper administration of justice in the Peruvian Judicial System and on the compliance of the judgments that they pronounce, as well as establish the trial by jury courts.
10. Inform the legislature of the political and military status quo of the Republic of Peru, indicating substantial improvements or suitable reforms in every branch of Peruvian society.

1. The President cannot and will not personally command the armed force without the consent of Congress.
2. The President cannot and will not leave the nation without permission from Congress.
3. Under no pretext can the President conduct business with members of the Supreme Court.
4. The President cannot and will not deprive any Peruvian of personal liberty, and if public security requires the arrest or detention of any person, the President may order the appropriate detention with the indispensable condition that within twenty-four hours the detainee will be available to their respective judge.
5. Furthermore, the President cannot and will not impose any penalties. The Minister who signed the order of detention, and the official who executes it can act on behalf of the detainee's individual freedom.
6. The President cannot and will not defer or suspend sessions of the Congress under any circumstances.

The powers of the President of the Republic are:

1. Open sessions of the Congress, and present the legislative body a message about the State of the Republic yearly.
2. Propose the Vice President of Peru to Congress and appoint Secretaries of the Republic.
3. Dismiss the Vice President and Secretaries of the Republic, whenever the President deems it appropriate.
4. Send, publish, circulate, and enforce the laws.
5. Authorize the regulations and orders that maximizes compliance with the Constitution, laws and public treaties of the Republic.
6. Send and enforce the judgments of the Courts of Justice.
7. Request the extension of ordinary sessions of the Legislative Body for up to thirty days.
8. Convene the Legislative Body for extraordinary sessions, in a case where it is absolutely necessary.
9. To have the permanent force of the sea and land for exterior defense of the Republic.
10. To send in person the armies of the Republic in peace and in war. When the President is absent from the capital, the Vice President in charge of the Republic will take the duties and responsibilities of the President.
11. When the President leads the war in person, the President may reside in all the territory occupied by national arms.
12. Have the National Militia for internal security, within the limits of its departments and outside of them, with the consent of the Legislative Body.
13. Name all employees of the Army and Navy.
14. Establish military schools, and nautical schools.
15. Command to establish military hospitals and homes for the disabled.
16. Give withdrawals and licenses. Grant the pensions of the military and their families in accordance with the laws, and arrange, according to them, all the rest consequent to this branch.
17. Declare war on behalf of the Republic, after the decree of the Legislative Body.
18. Grant patents for privateering.
19. Take care of the collection and investment of contributions according to the laws.
20. Name employees.
21. Direct diplomatic negotiations, and celebrate treaties of peace, friendship, federation, alliance, truces, armed neutrality, trade, and any other, always having to precede the approval of the Legislative Body.
22. Appoint the Public Ministers, Consuls and subordinates of the Department of Foreign Affairs.
23. Receive foreign ministers
24. Grant the pass, or suspend the conciliar decisions, pontifical, brief and resigned with the consent of the Power to whom it corresponds.
25. Propose to the Chamber of Censors, in short, individuals for the Supreme Court of Justice, and those who have to submit to the Archbishoprics, Bishoprics, Canongias and perks.
26. Present to the Senate for approval one of the list of candidates proposed by the Electoral Body for Prefects, Governors and Corregidores.
27. Choose one of the list of candidates proposed by the Ecclesiastical Government for priests and vicars of the provinces.
28. Suspend up to three months for employees, provided there is cause for it.
29. Commute the capital sentences decreed to the inmates by the Courts.
30. Issue, on behalf of the Republic, titles or appointments to all employees.

1. The President may not deprive any Peruvian of their liberty, nor impose on them any penalty.
2. When the security of the Republic requires the arrest of one or more citizens, it may not exceed forty-eight hours without placing the accused at the disposal of the competent Court or Judge.
3. They may not deprive any individual of their property, but in the event that the public interest so requires, but they must precede a just compensation to the owner.
4. It will not be able to prevent the elections or the other functions that by the laws compete to the Powers of the Republic.
5. They can not absent themselves from the territory of the Republic, nor from the capital, without permission from the Legislative Body.

The powers of the President of the Republic are:

1. To preserve the internal order and the external security of the Republic without contravening the laws.
2. Convene the ordinary Congress and the extraordinary, when there is a need.
3. Concurring to the opening of the Congress, presenting a message about the state of the Republic and about the improvements and reforms it deems appropriate.
4. Take part in the formation of laws, in accordance with this constitution.
5. Enact and enforce the laws and other resolutions of the Congress; and give decrees, orders, regulations and instructions for their better compliance.
6. Give the necessary orders for the collection and investment of public revenues in accordance with the law.
7. Require judges and courts for the prompt and accurate administration of justice.
8. Enforce the judgments of the courts and courts.
9. Organize the forces of sea and land: distribute them, and dispose of them for the service of the Republic.
10. Have the National Guard in their respective provinces, without being able to remove them, but in case of sedition on the border, or in the war outside.
11. To direct diplomatic negotiations and to conclude treaties, placing on them the express condition that they will be submitted to the Congress.
12. Receive foreign Ministers and admit the Consuls.
13. Appoint and remove the Ministers of State and the Diplomatic Agents.
14. To clear licenses and pensions, according to the laws.
15. Exercise the Board in accordance with the laws and current practice.
16. Present to Archbishops and Bishops, with the approval of Congress, those who are elected according to the law.
17. Present for the Dignities and Canongias of the Cathedrals, for the parishes and other ecclesiastical benefits, in accordance with the laws and current practice.
18. Celebrate concordats with the Apostolic Chair, following the instructions given by Congress.
19. Grant or deny the passage to the conciliar decrees, papal bulls, briefs and rescripts, with the consent of the Congress, and previously hearing the Supreme Court of Justice, if they were related to contentious matters.
20. Provide vacant jobs, whose appointment corresponds according to the Constitution and special laws.

The President of the Republic, in addition to the Head of State, is the Head of the national Government. Its functions are explicit in the Constitution and the Organic Law of the Executive Power.

1. Comply and enforce the Constitution and treaties, laws and other legal provisions.
2. Represent the State, inside and outside the Republic.
3. Direct the general policy of the Government.
4. Ensure the internal order and the external security of the Republic.
5. Convene elections for President of the Republic and for representatives to Congress, as well as for mayors and aldermen and other officials indicated by law.
6. Summon the Congress to an extraordinary legislature; and sign, in that case, the decree of convocation.
7. Direct messages to the Congress at any time and obligatorily, in a personal form and in writing, upon the installation of the first annual ordinary legislature. The annual messages contain a detailed exposition of the situation of the Republic and the improvements and reforms that the President deems necessary and convenient for consideration by the Congress. The messages of the President of the Republic, except for the first one, are approved by the Council of Ministers.
8. Exercise the power to regulate the laws without transgressing or denaturing them; and, within such limits, issue decrees and resolutions.
9. Comply and enforce the judgments and resolutions of the jurisdictional bodies.
10. Fulfill and enforce the resolutions of the National Elections Jury.
11. Direct foreign policy and international relations; and celebrate and ratify treaties.
12. Appoint ambassadors and plenipotentiary ministers, with the approval of the Council of Ministers, with the responsibility of reporting to the Congress.
13. Receive foreign diplomatic agents and authorize the consuls to exercise their functions.
14. Preside over the National Defense System; and organize, distribute and arrange the employment of the Armed Forces and the National Police.
15. Adopt the necessary measures for the defence of the Republic, the integrity of the territory and the sovereignty of the State.
16. Declare war and sign peace, with authorization from Congress.
17. Manage public finances
18. Negotiate loans
19. Dictate extraordinary measures, by emergency decrees with the force of law, in economic and financial matters, when the national interest requires it and with a charge of reporting to the Congress. Congress may modify or repeal the aforementioned emergency decrees.
20. Regulate tariff rates.
21. Grant pardons and commute sentences. Exercising the right of grace for the benefit of the accused in cases where the stage of instruction has exceeded twice its term plus its extension.
22. Confer decorations on behalf of the Nation.
23. Authorize Peruvians to serve in a foreign army.
24. Grant extradition, with the approval of the Council of Ministers, following a report from the Supreme Court of Justice of the Republic.
25. Preside over the Forum of the National Agreement, being able to delegate this function to the President of the Council of Ministers.
26. Exercise the other functions of government and administration that the Constitution and the laws entrust to it.

The acts of the President of the Republic that lack ministerial endorsement are null. It corresponds to the President of the Republic to preside over the Council of Ministers when it is convened or when he attends its sessions. The President of the Republic appoints and removes the President of the council. Appoints and removes the other ministers, on the proposal and with an agreement, respectively, from the President of the council.

The ministers are individually responsible for their own acts and for the presidential acts they endorse. All ministers are jointly and severally liable for criminal acts or violations of the Constitution or the laws that the President of the Republic incurs or that are agreed upon in the council, even if they save their vote unless they resign immediately.

The Constitution of 1993, a product of the Presidency of Alberto Fujimori (1990–2000), is the constitution that is currently in place.

Former president Ollanta Humala using the presidential sash, plaque and baton

The presidential sash is the most distinctive feature that the President wears and has been used since the beginning of the Republic. It was inherited from the last Viceroys. The placement and delivery of the presidential sash symbolize a democratic transition of power. The band is used by the President of Congress until the new president is sworn in.

It is a bicolor band that carries the national colors (red and white). This band is worn diagonally from the right shoulder to the left side of the waist. At the waist, like a brooch, the band was embroidered in golden thread the Coat of arms of Peru. There is a Lima family that has traditionally made them. They are made to measure for each President and have been used normally with formal suit: suit, tuxedo or military uniform. Since 2006, the Shield was moved up to chest height.

A symbolic act narrated by Ricardo Palma in his famous Peruvian Traditions was made during the confused first half of the 1840s, by President Justo Figuerola. This, in front of the protests made by the pope in front of his home, he asked his daughter to take the presidential band out of the dresser drawer and give it to the people from the balcony. The crowd left happy and alive to Figuerola and went to find someone to impose the garment, which, so many times coveted, this time did not find who wanted to stick it.

The Ministers of State wear a red-and-white sash; Supreme Members, Congressmen of the Republic, Magistrates of the Constitutional Court, Members of the National Council of the Magistracy, Supreme Prosecutors, the Ombudsman, etc., wear red-and-white collars with medals that recognize them as such.

The necklace is the symbol of the highest authority in the country. It is composed of gold and encrusted with diamonds, bearing at the center a medal that contains the coat of arms of Peru. Presidents Oscar R. Benavides Larrea, Manuel Prado y Ugarteche and Jose Luis Bustamante y Rivero notably used the large necklace and other insignias. Its use disappeared after the administration of Fernando Belaúnde Terry. Recently its use was 'revived' by Alan García Pérez in the European Union Summit held precisely in Lima in May 2008.

The President of the Republic carries a plaque in the left upper pocket of the bag in the manner of a lanyard with the insignia of the military command that recognizes them as the Supreme Chief of the Armed Forces. It is the heir of the distinctive and military honors worn by presidents belonging to the Armed Forces throughout the history of the country. It is golden and has the shape of a radiant sun.

The staff originates from the Spanish custom of symbolizing power with a cane. The custom was introduced in the eighteenth century in the Andes, after the rebellion of José Gabriel Túpac Amaru and Túpac Catari in 1780 to represent the dignity of mayor of Incas. Unlike Argentina, the use of a cane that symbolizes the power and office of President (symbolically, varayoc), has not been common in the history of the Peruvian presidency and has been replaced innumerable times by the saber or the sword of the military presidents. There is only a handful of remarkable cases. Mariano Ignacio Prado, José Balta and Augusto B. Leguía used it in pictures and presidential photographs. Recently, Alejandro Toledo, made use of the cane in his symbolic assumption to the charge in Cusco and also on a few other occasions. Its most recent use corresponds to 29 July 2008, the date of the traditional military parade, when Alan García carried a small presidential staff, the same one used by Ollanta Humala in the military parade on 29 July 2011.

• A President must be Peruvian by birth (those who are Peruvians by naturalization can not access the position). They must be more than thirty-five years of age at the time they are applying for a job and fully exercising their civil rights, that is, they must not bear any penal sanction or civil declaration of disability, which includes the right to vote.
• They can not be candidates for the presidency if they have not left office six months before the election:
  • The Ministers and Deputy Ministers of State, the Comptroller General.
  • The members of the Constitutional Court, the National Council of the Judiciary, the Judicial Power, the Public Ministry, the National Elections Jury, and the Ombuds.
  • The President of the Central Reserve Bank, the Superintendent of Banking, Insurance and Private Administrators of Pension Funds and the National Superintendent of Tax Administration.
  • The members of the Armed Forces and the National Police in activity.
  • The other cases that the Constitution provides.

According to the Organic Law of Elections, they can not run for the Presidency or Vice Presidencies of the Republic:

• The Ministers and Deputy Ministers of State, the Comptroller General of the Republic and the regional authorities, if they have not resigned at least six months before the election.
• The members of the Constitutional Court, of the National Council of the Judiciary, of the Judicial Power, of the Public Ministry, of the organisms that comprise the Electoral System and the Ombudsperson, if they have not left office 6 (six) months before the election
• The President of the Central Reserve Bank, the Superintendent of Banking and Insurance, the Superintendent of Tax Administration, the National Superintendent of Customs and the Superintendent of Private Pension Funds Administrators, if they have not resigned at least six months before the election.
• The members of the Armed Forces and the National Police who have not retreated to the retirement situation at least six months before the election
• The spouse and consanguineous relatives within the fourth degree, and the related ones within the second, of the one that exercises the Presidency or has exercised it in the year preceding the election.