Paraguayan lawmaker Johanna Ortega questioned whether President Santiago Peña had left the country without notifying Congress. (Foto: Instagram)
Paraguayan lawmaker Johanna Ortega asked during a National Congress session on Thursday, Nov. 5, whether President Santiago Peña had already left Paraguay for Argentina without formally notifying the legislature. Ortega asked Congress President Basilio “Bachi” Núñez whether he had received any notice from the executive branch about Peña’s departure.
“While we are debating here, media reports are saying that President Santiago Peña has already set foot on Argentine soil,” Ortega said during the session. She noted that Peña still formally held the presidency and that Congress had not yet considered his resignation or begun impeachment proceedings against him.
Ortega also questioned whether Peña could leave Paraguayan territory without following the procedure established in Article 233 of the country’s constitution. She said that, if he had departed without notifying Congress, the move would constitute another constitutional violation. Referring to discussion of lifting Peña’s legal protections, she asked why lawmakers were considering that step if he was already outside the country and had failed to report his departure—if that was indeed what had happened.
Núñez said the existence of an official notification would need to be checked. The Senate’s General Secretariat later said it had consulted the relevant office and had not received an authorization notice from Peña. That response did not establish whether he was in Argentina.
The questions came amid a political crisis involving digital bank Ueno. Peña announced his resignation as president as the bank’s operations were affected by an intervention from Paraguay’s central bank, which identified problems with its solvency indicators. Thousands of customers were unable to access their accounts. Peña, a conservative politician, faced an impeachment effort backed by opposition lawmakers as well as some members of his own political base.
Peña had been a shareholder in the group that controls Ueno. Opposition lawmakers accused him of having been complicit in irregularities attributed to the institution. In a video announcing his resignation, he said he was stepping down to support the country’s stability, social peace and democratic institutions. He also apologized to people who had lost access to their money, saying he did not believe any office should take precedence over Paraguay’s well-being and that he had never intended to betray the public’s trust.
Vice President Pedro Alliana is expected to take over the executive branch following Peña’s resignation. The Chamber of Deputies rejected an impeachment request against Alliana, clearing the way for the succession.
