Paraguay Congress Halts Peña Resignation Session Without a Decision

Original report

Paraguay's Congress ended a joint session on Thursday, November 5, without deciding whether to accept President Santiago Peña's resignation after government-aligned Colorado legislators left during voting. The departures deprived the session of a quorum. Before the walkout, 42 legislators had voted against accepting the resignation and 41 in favor; those figures were an incomplete vote, not a final congressional decision. Earlier on Thursday, the Chamber of Deputies approved an impeachment accusation against Peña with 78 votes in favor and none against, according to the chamber's official account. Peña submitted his resignation during that extraordinary session. The chamber said the constitutional procedure assigns the accusation to the lower house and the trial to the Senate, with a two-thirds majority required at each stage. The resignation debate divided lawmakers over how the presidency should change hands. Opposition and dissident legislators argued that accepting it would give Peña lifetime-senator status and parliamentary protections, and sought to continue impeachment. Government-aligned deputy Yamil Esgaib argued that acceptance would speed the transition and restore calm. Opposition senator Celeste Amarilla maintained that resignation did not interrupt a process already under way. Peña subsequently said he would participate in the continuing impeachment proceedings and present arguments and evidence. “I will appear and exercise my right to defense,” he said in his official statement. The quorum failure left Congress without a completed decision on his resignation as the separate impeachment process continued.