Vicente Zeballos

In late 2010, former mayor Luis Castañeda of Lima started his full-scale presidential campaign. Recruiting regional leaders around the country, Zeballos was selected to run for Congress in the National Solidarity Alliance, which grouped Union for Peru in coalition with the National Solidarity Party, Always Together and Change 90. The alliance would attain 9 seats in Congress, with Zeballos elected representing Moquegua for the 2011-2016 term.[6]

In his term in office, he was considered a swing vote among regional representatives. He ran for the Presidency of Congress in 2015, losing to opposition congressman Luis Iberico Núñez.[7]

In 2016, he was invited to run for reelection under the Peruvians for Change congressional list of the Moquegua Region. He was successfully reelected for the 2016-2021 term.[8] Serving in the cabinet as Minister of Justice and Human Rights, his term would be shortened due to the dissolution of Congress issued by president Vizcarra on September 30, 2019.

On July 21, 2018, president Martín Vizcarra appointed him Minister of Justice, replacing the disgraced Salvador Heresi, who resigned amidst the political scandal involving the Supreme Court Justice, César Hinostroza.[9]

During his tenure, he was questioned before Congress twice. On March 14, 2019, with 8 votes in favor, 24 against, and one abstention, Congress approved the admission of a motion for appeal against Zeballos for him to report on the terms of the collaboration agreement with the Brazilian company Odebrecht, which was signed with the Public Ministry and the Attorney General.[10][11] On August 15, 2019, Congress voted on the admission of a second motion for appeal against the minister to respond to the escape of the hitman William Moreno (a.k.a. "Goro"), hitman from former Governor of Ancash, César Álvarez's criminal network, and implicated in the death of former regional councilman, Ezequiel Nolasco and Hilda Saldarriaga.[12][13][14] With 63 votes in favor, eight against and 21 abstentions, Zeballos was summoned on September 2 to answer a set of 12 questions regarding the case.[15]

On September 2, 2019, Zeballos attended Congress to answer the questions of the interpellation statement.[16][17] The debate lasted more than four hours and was finally suspended by the President of Congress, Pedro Olaechea, without actually presenting a vote of no confidence.[18]

The minister denied having lied to the Justice Committee about the hitman's escape, and denied alleged rumors of wanting to divert attention from the criminal's escape. To his presentation, Zeballos also added the existence of responsibilities of both the National Penitentiary Institute (INPE) and the Judiciary.[19]

On October 21, 2019, Zeballos referred to the possible candidacies of legislators from the recently dissolved congress, questioning whether they should be able to participate in the 2020 congressional elections, referring to the constitutional referendum of 2018 where the immediate re-election of parliamentarians had been specifically addressed. [34][35]

On November 14, 2019, Luis Carrasco, the president of the Special Electoral Jury for Lima Centro (Jurado Electoral Especial; JEE), opened an investigation into the prime minister for allegedly violating, through his statement to the press as a public official, the principle of electoral neutrality. [36][37] In response, Zeballos questioned the legal basis for the JEE investigation [38] [39]

On November 27, 2019, JEE closed their investigation of Zeballos. However, the body did move to censure Minister of Women and Vulnerable Populations, Gloria Montenegro, accusing her of the same infraction, although the motion did not prosper. [40] [41]