Manuel Arturo Merino de Lama (born 20 August 1961)[1] is a Peruvian politician who briefly served as President of Peru for six days between 10 and 15 November 2020.
[15] In December 2000, Merino coordinated directly with the different agrarian organizations of the department, to obtain the cancellation of the debts contracted with the State and the refinancing of the same with the private financial entities.
[19] At the 2006 general election, Merino failed to attain reelection, as the Center Front coalition only obtained five seats nationally, mostly from Lima.
[20] In the following years, Merino took an active role in the National Executive Committee of Popular Action, which propelled him to once again run for the Congress in the 2011 general election.
[34][35][36] On 20 October 2020, the Union for Peru parliamentary caucus – citing as strong evidence against Vizcarra the media revelations on his tenure as Governor of Moquegua – issued a second impeachment motion, which was supported by Broad Front, Podemos Perú, two congressmen from Popular Action and an independent.
[37] On 9 November 2020, following Vizcarra's appearance before Congress, Merino initiated the final debate in order to proceed to voting on the impeachment at night.
[48][49][50] The Secretary General of the Organization of American States, Luis Almagro, expressed his concern about the issue and "reiterates that it is the responsibility of the Constitutional Court of Peru to rule on the legality and legitimacy of the institutional decisions adopted.
[53] During his first public pronouncements, Merino expressed support for the scheduled elections in April 2021, called for health and economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic in Peru, and promoted law and order within the country.
[54] On 15 November 2020, Merino stepped down as president, citing that he acted within the law when he was sworn into office the previous Tuesday and that he would "do everything in my power to guarantee a constitutional succession.
"[55][8] The Constitutional Court of Peru scheduled for Wednesday, November 18, the public hearing on the competence claim filed by the Executive Power on September 14 for the first presidential vacancy process, in which the votes to remove Martín Vizcarra were not obtained.
[56][57] The succeeding government of Francisco Sagasti announced following Merino's resignation that the attorney general would investigate if he was responsible for possible human rights violations.
[58] On November 20, 2020, the Constitutional Court published its ruling in which it declared the jurisdictional claim inadmissible because it considered that there was a subtraction of the matter and therefore did not make any pronouncement on the merits, which generated academic questions.
[62][63] However, magistrates such as Ernesto Blume, José Luis Sardón and Augusto Ferrero Costa considered in various interviews that Martín Vizcarra's vacancy was in line with the Political Constitution of Peru.
[64][65][66] In July 2022, the Permanent Commission of the Congress of the Republic voted to shield Merino from investigations related to the two deaths and 79 injuries that occurred during protests against his government.
[6] In November 2020, the month when Merino became president, Ipsos polls showed that 88% percent of Peruvians disapproved of Vizcarra's removal, while only 11% approved.