The Republic of Peru has two Vice Presidents who are elected along with the President in democraticelections. Their only 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. The Vice Presidents are first in the Presidential line of succession. Historically, the position was one of a sole Vice President, which was in place between 1829–1831 and 1858–1862. The dual positions of First and Second Vice Presidents have been in place since 1862. The most recent holder is Mercedes Aráoz, who was elected as the Second Vice President in 2016 along with the election of Pedro Kuzcynski as President and Martín Vizcarra as First Vice President. When Vizcarra succeeded Kuzcynski, after the latter's being driven from office by scandal in 2018, Aráoz became the sole Peruvian Vice President. On 30 September 2019, the Peruvian Congress, caught up in a constitutional political crisis, named Aráoz acting President after having declared Vizacarra temporarily unfit for office. Given that the Congress had itself been dissolved earlier that day by President Vizcarra, and given that Aráoz supported the latter's call for new congressional elections, she irrevocably resigned as Second Vice President on 1 October 2019, thus leaving vacancies in both vice-presidential offices and, moreover, leaving Vizcarra as the sole claimant for President, supported in that position by the Peruvian Armed Forces and the National Police of Peru. However, her resignation is not official, since in Peru the resignation of the vice president has to be accepted by the Congress and that institution is not celebrating meetings given its dissolution. Her resignation was finally accepted on 7 May 2020 by the new Peruvian Congress sworn on 16 March 2020. In contemporary history, only one vice president has assumed the presidency of Peru via constitutional succession. The 66th Vice President Vizcarra assumed the office of the presidency in 2018 after the graft scandal that led to the ousting of President Kuczynski.
"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
First Vice President
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.
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 April 1, 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.
