Vice President of Peru

The Republic of Peru has two vice presidents, the First Vice President and the Second Vice President, who are elected along with the President in democratic elections.^[1] Their only constitutional mission is to replace the President in case of death, permanent or temporary incapacity, resignation, being abroad without the permission of Congress, failure to return from abroad at fixed time, and/or dismissal or removal from office as allowed by the Constitution.^{Note 1[2]} They cannot be appointed outside of general elections.

First Vice President and Second Vice President of the Republic of Peru
Primer Vicepresidente Constitucional de la República Segundo Vicepresidente Constitucional de la República
Great Seal of the State
Incumbent First Vice President: Vacant (latest incumbent Dina Boluarte) Second Vice President: Vacant (latest incumbent Mercedes Aráoz) since 7 December 2022 (First) and 7 May 2020 (Second)
Residence	Government Palace
Appointer	Only direct popular election
Term length	Five years, renewable indefinitely
Inaugural holder	Diego de Aliaga (1823) Juan Antonio Pezet and Pedro Diez Canseco (1862)
Formation	1823 (Vice President) 1862 (First Vice President and Second Vice President)
Succession	First and Second

The First and Second Vice Presidents are first and second in the presidential line of succession.^[3] The leader of Congress, the President of the Congress, follows the First Vice President and the Second Vice President in the line of succession.

In modern Peruvian history, two Vice Presidents have acceded to the presidency after the President could no longer serve, Martín Vizcarra and Dina Boluarte. The 32nd First Vice President Martín Vizcarra assumed the office of the presidency in 2018 after the graft scandal that led to the resignation of President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski.^[4] The 33rd First Vice President Dina Boluarte assumed the office of the presidency in 2022 after President Pedro Castillo attempted to dissolve Congress and was impeached and removed from the presidency.

Historically, the position was one of a sole Vice President, which was in place in the years 1829–1831 and 1858–1862. The dual positions of First and Second Vice Presidents have been in place since 1862.

The office of the First Vice President is currently vacant, the most recent First Vice President having been Dina Boluarte. The office of the Second Vice President is also currently vacant, the most recent Second Vice President having been Mercedes Aráoz.

History

Vice President

The position of Vice President of Peru appeared for the first time in the Constitution of 1823:^[5]

"ARTICLE 76: There will be a Vice President in whom the same qualities concur. He/she will administer and withhold Executive Power in event of the death, resignation, or impeachment of the President, or when the president is unable to control the armed forces." Constitution of 1823

The Constitution of 1828 and the Life Constitution of 1826 also proposed only one vice president, who had to be appointed by the president. In the Constitution of 1834, the office was disbanded until the Magna Carta of 1856, which reinstated the sole vice-presidency.

First Vice President and Second Vice President

The Constitution of 1860 established two vice-presidents, elected jointly with the President.

Article 89: "There will be two Vice Presidents of the Republic, named first and second, who will be elected at the same time, with the same qualities and for the same period as the President. Constitution of 1860

In the Constitution of 1867, the power of vice-presidents was eminently curtailed. However, this constitution held in place for a short period until a successful revolution of that same year restored the Constitution of 1860.

Similarly, the Constitution of 1920 abolished the positions of vice-presidents. The Constitution of 1933 failed to change this, but the office was eventually restored by the second presidency of Óscar R. Benavides, by law on 1 April 1936. In 1939, via plebiscitary consultation, a constitutional amendment was made restoring the office of vice president and second vice president.

The 1993 Constitution and the current constitution in force — put forth by President Alberto Fujimori — recognizes the double vice-presidency in the Executive Branch.

In recent history, there have been two instances where the First Vice President has acceded to the presidency after the President could no longer serve. The 32nd First Vice President Martín Vizcarra assumed the office of the presidency in 2018 after the graft scandal that led to the resignation of President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski. The 33rd First Vice President Dina Boluarte assumed the office of the presidency in 2022 after President Pedro Castillo attempted to dissolve Congress and was impeached and removed from the presidency. No Second Vice President has recently acceded to the presidency.

Current officeholders

The office of the First Vice President is currently vacant. The most recent First Vice President is Dina Boluarte, who held the office until 7 December 2022 after President Pedro Castillo's self-coup d'état attempt and removal from the presidency. The office of the Second Vice President is also currently vacant because Castillo's second running mate, Vladimir Cerrón, was disqualified by the National Jury of Elections to run as Second Vice President in the 2021 election due to Cerrón having served a prison sentence for corruption since 2019.^[6][7]

The most recent Second Vice President is Mercedes Aráoz, who held the office until her resignation was accepted by Congress on 7 May 2020.^[8] Earlier, on 30 September 2019, the Peruvian Congress had been in the midst of the 2019 Peruvian constitutional crisis and named Aráoz as Acting President after having declared President Martín Vizcarra unfit for office.^[8][4][9] Given that Congress had itself been dissolved earlier that day by President Vizcarra and that Aráoz supported the Vizcarra's call for new congressional elections, she irrevocably resigned as Second Vice President on 1 October 2019, to leave Vizcarra as the sole claimant to the presidency. Aráoz's resignation was not accepted until 7 May 2020, by a newly elected Congress.^{[8][4][9][10][11][12]}

List of vice presidents of Peru

Portrait	Pos.	Vice President	Political party	Inaugurated	Left office	President	Notes
	-	Diego de Aliaga		November 1823	February 1824	José Bernardo de Tagle	[5]
	-	Manuel Salazar y Baquíjano		August 1827	June 1829	José de la Mar	[5]
	-	Antonio Gutiérrez de la Fuente		1 September 1829	16 April 1831	Agustín Gamarra	[5]
	-	Juan Manuel del Mar		24 October 1858	16 June 1862	Ramón Castilla	[5]
	First	Juan Antonio Pezet	Military	24 October 1862	5 August 1863	Miguel de San Román	[5]
	Second	Pedro Diez Canseco					[5]
	First	Mariano Herencia Zevallos	Military	2 August 1868	27 July 1872	José Balta	[5]
	Second	Francisco Diez Canseco					[5]
	First	Manuel Costas Arce	Civilista Party	2 August 1872	2 August 1876	Manuel Pardo y Lavalle	[5]
	Second	Francisco Garmendia Puértolas					[5]
	First	Luis La Puerta		2 August 1876	18 December 1879	Mariano Ignacio Prado	[5]
	Second	José Francisco Canevaro					[5]
	First	Lizardo Montero Flores		12 March 1881	6 November 1881	Francisco García Calderón	[5]
	Second	Andrés Avelino Cáceres					[5]
	First	Remigio Morales Bermúdez	Constitutional Party	3 June 1886	10 August 1890	Andrés Cáceres	[5]
	Second	Aurelio Denegri					[5]
	First	Pedro Alejandrino del Solar	Constitutional Party	10 August 1890	1 April 1894	Remigio Morales Bermúdez	[5]
	Second	Justiniano Borgoño					[5]
	First	César Canevaro	Constitutional Party	10 August 1894	20 March 1895	Andrés Cáceres	[5]
	Second	Cesáreo Chacaltana Reyes					[5]
	First	Guillermo Billinghurst	Democratic Party	8 September 1895	8 September 1899	Nicolás de Piérola	[5]
	Second	Augusto Seminario Váscones					[5]
	First	Isaac Alzamora	Alianza Civil-Demócrata	8 September 1899	8 September 1903	Eduardo López de Romaña	[5]
	Second	Federico Bresani					[5]
	First	Lino Alarco Brediñana	Civilista Party	-	-	Manuel Candamo	Died 13 June 1903 before taking office[5]
	Second	Serapio Calderón		8 September 1903	7 May 1904		[5]
	First	José Salvador Cavero Ovalle	Civilista Party	24 September 1904	24 September 1908	José Pardo y Barreda	[5]
	Second	Serapio Calderón			1907		[5]
	First	Eugenio Larrabure y Unanue	Civilista Party	24 September 1908	24 September 1912	Augusto Leguía	[5]
	Second	Belisario Sosa	Constitutional Party				[5]
	First	Roberto Leguía	Civilista Party	24 September 1912	4 February 1914	Guillermo Billinghurst	[5]
	Second	Miguel Echenique					[5]
	First	Ricardo Bentín Sánchez	Alianza Civil-Constitucional-Liberal	18 August 1915	4 July 1919	José Pardo y Barreda	[5]
	Second	Melitón Carvajal					[5]
	First	César Canevaro		12 October 1919	31 October 1922	Augusto Leguía	[5]
	Second	Agustín de la Torre González			12 October 1924		[5]
	First	Ernesto Montagne Markholz	Peruvian Army	13 April 1936	8 December 1939	Óscar R. Benavides	[5]
	Second	Antonio Rodríguez Ramírez					[5]
	First	Rafael Larco Herrera	Conservative	8 December 1939	28 July 1945	Manuel Prado Ugarteche	[5]
	Second	Carlos D. Gibson					[5]
	First	José Gálvez Barrenechea	National Democratic Front	28 July 1945	29 October 1948	José Bustamante y Rivero	[5]
	Second	Eduardo Ganoza y Ganoza					[5]
	-	Zenón Noriega Agüero	Peruvian Army	29 October 1948	1 June 1950	Manuel A. Odría	De facto
	First	Héctor Boza	Odriíst National Union	28 July 1950	28 July 1956		[5]
	Second	Federico Bolognesi					[5]
	First	Luis Gallo Porras	Peruvian Democratic Movement	28 July 1956	18 July 1962	Manuel Prado Ugarteche	[5]
	Second	Carlos Moreyra y Paz Soldán					[5]
	First	Nicolás Lindley López	Peruvian Army	18 July 1962	3 March 1963	Ricardo Pérez Godoy	De facto
	Second	Pedro Vargas Prada					De facto
	First	Edgardo Seoane Corrales	Popular Action	28 July 1963	3 October 1968	Fernando Belaúnde Terry	[5]
	Second	Mario Polar Ugarteche	Christian Democracy				[5]
	-	Luis Edgardo Mercado Jarrín	Peruvian Army	3 October 1968	30 August 1975	Juan Velasco Alvarado	De facto
	-	Pedro Richter Prada		30 August 1975	28 July 1980	Francisco Morales Bermúdez	De facto
	First	Fernando Schwalb	Popular Action	28 July 1980	28 July 1985	Fernando Belaúnde Terry	[13][5]
	Second	Javier Alva Orlandini					[13][5]
	First	Luis Alberto Sánchez	Peruvian Aprista Party	28 July 1985	28 July 1990	Alan García Pérez	[13][5]
	Second	Luis Alva Castro					[13][5]
	First	Máximo San Román	Change 90	28 July 1990	5 April 1992	Alberto Fujimori	[13][5]
	Second	Carlos García y García					[13][5]
	First	Ricardo Márquez Flores	Change 90-New Majority	28 July 1995	28 July 2000		[13]
	Second	César Paredes Canto					[13]
	First	Francisco Tudela	Peru 2000	28 July 2000	22 November 2000		Resigned.[13]
	Second	Ricardo Márquez Flores
	First	Raúl Diez Canseco	Popular Action	28 July 2001	14 December 2004	Alejandro Toledo Manrique	Resigned[13]
	Second	David Waisman	Possible Peru		28 July 2006		[13]
	First	Luis Giampietri	Peruvian Aprista Party	28 July 2006	28 July 2011	Alan García Pérez	[13]
	Second	Lourdes Mendoza					[13]
	First	Marisol Espinoza	Peruvian Nationalist Party (until 2015) Alliance for Progress (since 2015)	28 July 2011	28 July 2016	Ollanta Humala	[13]
	Second	Omar Chehade	Peruvian Nationalist Party		16 January 2012		Resigned [13]
	First	Martín Vizcarra	Peruvians for Change	28 July 2016	23 March 2018	Pedro Pablo Kuczynski	Succeeded Kuczynski as President
	Second	Mercedes Aráoz	Independent politician		-
	First	Vacant		23 March 2018	10 November 2020	Martín Vizcarra	Vacant upon Martín Vizcarra's accession to the presidency
	Second	Mercedes Aráoz	Independent politician	-	7 May 2020		Submitted her resignation on 1 October 2019 amidst the 2019–2020 Peruvian constitutional crisis, but her resignation was not officially accepted by Congress until 7 May 2020
	First	Vacant		10 November 2020	15 November 2020	Manuel Merino
	Second	Vacant
	First	Vacant		17 November 2020	28 July 2021	Francisco Sagasti
	Second	Vacant
	First	Dina Boluarte	Free Peru (until 2022) Independent (since 2022)	28 July 2021	7 December 2022	Pedro Castillo	Succeeded Castillo as President
	Second	Vacant					President Pedro Castillo's winning ticket in the 2021 election originally had Vladimir Cerrón as nominee for Second Vice President before Cerrón's removal from the ticket due to his conviction on corruption charges[14]
	First	Vacant		7 December 2022		Dina Boluarte	Vacant since Dina Boluarte's accession to the presidency
	Second	Vacant

See also

• List of current vice presidents

Notes

Note 1.^ While the Constitution itself does not give the Vice Presidents any role beyond deputizing the President, according to the Organic Law of the Executive Branch, however, the Vice Presidents can participate in the sessions and debates of the Council of Ministers "with voice but without vote", can fulfill additional functions that the President entrusts and assigns to them, and are also part of the Presidential Office's support staff.

References

1. Artículo 111°, Constitución Política Del Perú. (Retrieved 6 October 2019.)
2. Artículos 113°, 114°, y 115°, Constitución Política Del Perú. (Retrieved 6 October 2019.)
3. Artículo 115°, Constitución Política Del Perú. (Retrieved 6 October 2019.)
4. Disolución del Congreso en Perú: 4 claves para entender el enfrentamiento entre Vizcarra y el Parlamento (y lo que puede pasar ahora)", BBC Mundo, 2 October 2019. (Retrieved 6 October 2019.)
5. Abog. Freddy Ronald Centurión González. "LA INSTITUCIÓN DE LA VICEPRESIDENCIA DE LA REPÚBLICA EN LA CONSTITUCIÓN PERUANA" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 October 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
6. "Pedro Castillo: Habrá minería "donde la naturaleza y la población la permitan"". Energiminas (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 April 2021.
7. "JNE declara improcedente candidatura Vladimir Cerrón" (in Spanish). Radio Cumbre. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
8. "Disolución del Congreso en Perú: quién es Mercedes Aráoz, que renunció tras ser nombrada 'presidenta en funciones' por el Parlamento peruano para sustituir a Vizcarra", BBC Mundo, 2 October 2019. (Retrieved 6 October 2019.)
9. Disolución del Congreso de Perú: las dudas sobre la legalidad de la decisión de Vizcarra de disolver la cámara y sobre la suspensión temporal del presidente", BBC Mundo, 2 October 2019. (Retrieved 6 October 2019.)
10. Disolución del Congreso en Perú: renuncia Mercedes Aráoz, nombrada "presidenta en funciones" por el Parlamento en sustitución de Vizcarra", BBC Mundo, 2 October 2019. (Retrieved 6 October 2019.)
11. Aráoz, Mercedes [@MecheAF] (2 October 2019). "He decidido renunciar irrevocablemente al cargo de Vicepresidenta Constitucional de la República. Las razones las explico en la carta adjunta. Espero que mi renuncia conduzca a la convocatoria de elecciones generales en el más breve plazo por el bien del país. https://t.co/c4tz4tnzMw" [I have decided to irrevocably resign from the post of Constitutional Vice President of the Republic. I explain the reasons in the attached letter. I hope that my resignation leads to the calling of general elections in the shortest possible time for the good of the country.] (Tweet) (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 6 June 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2022 – via Twitter.
12. "Congreso acepta renuncia de Mercedes Aráoz a la segunda vicepresidencia de la República NNDC | PERU". 7 May 2020.
13. "Presidentes y vicepresidentes desde 1980 en Perú, crisis y realidades". 26 July 2018.
14. O'Boyle, Brendan (21 June 2021). "The "Shadowy Figure" Behind Peru's Likely Next President". Americas Quarterly. Retrieved 8 December 2022.

External links

• Media related to Vice Presidents of Peru at Wikimedia Commons