PERUVIAN President Pedro Castillo will renew his cabinet and appoint his fifth prime minister in 13 months after accepting the resignation of Anibal Torres.

Mr Torres resigned on Thursday night after Congress refused his challenge of a confidence vote.

The opposition-controlled Congress has repeatedly sought to impeach the socialist president, first elected last year, and has passed a law blocking the national electoral authority from holding referendums on constitutional matters without congressional approval.

After defeating a government bid to overturn the law, Congress also declined a confidence vote since if the government lost two such votes it would allow the president to call new legislative elections, which the left might win.

Mr Castillo slammed the opposition for “arbitrarily” removing powers from the electoral council and acting to impede democracy in Peru.

“I call on Congress to respect the rule of law, the rights of the people, democracy and the balance of state powers,” he said in an address to the nation.

The president sought a referendum on a new constitution both to end the deadlock between executive and legislature and to replace the 1993 constitution implemented under dictator Alberto Fujimori, who notoriously oversaw a programme of mass sterilisation of native Americans in line with an army-drafted proposal to “exterminate culturally backward and economically impoverished groups,” a project partly funded by USAid.

Mr Castillo wants a new “plurinational” constitution like that of Bolivia to recognise the rights of indigenous people.

Though Mr Fujimori is in prison for crimes against humanity, his daughter Keiko is a prominent opposition leader who stood against Mr Castillo last year.