LIMA, March 15 (Xinhua) -- The Peruvian Congress voted Thursday to allow a second impeachment vote against President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski for alleged "permanent moral incapacity."
The congress passed the motion with 87 votes in favor, 15 against and 15 abstentions. The congress agreed to hold debate and vote on the impeachment on March 22.
In the upcoming session, Kuczynski will have the right to defend himself, either by appearing personally or sending a lawyer, for a maximum time of 60 minutes.
This is the second time Kuczynski has faced a similar situation. The first happened last December, but he survived the impeachment vote, when the opposition only gathered 78 lawmakers against him, with a minimum of 87 needed to strip him of his power.
Congressman Cesar Villanueva, from the Alliance for Progress, said the motion is due to a "lack of truth, honesty and transparency" from the president.
"The president denied and hid, lied repeatedly and permanently, his business dealings as a person and/or as a representative of a consultancy ... with Brazilian companies involved in the investigation into the Lava Jato case," he said when filing the motion.
Lava Jato, or Car Wash, is a massive judicial investigation in Brazil looking into the corrupt dealings of construction company Odebrecht, which paid millions in bribes to officials across Latin America in exchange for winning public contracts.
This attack on Kuczynski is motivated by payments made by Odebrecht to Westfield Capital, a firm based in Florida and owned by Kuczynski, at a time when he was minister of economy and finance, then prime minister, under the administration of Alejandro Toledo.
Prime Minister Mercedes Araoz also called on the congress to act with "seriousness and responsibility" in the vote.
"Let this not be done by passion or individual interests, but really think of Peru," said Araoz.
