By mid-July, the struggle was building up to see who would replace Henry Pease as president of Congress. The post is an important one. Not only does the person who holds it have an important powers to influence parliamentary business, but it was the president of Congress who (in the shape of Valentín Paniagua) became president of the republic at the downfall of the Fujimori regime. If Toledo was forced to resign, the first-in-line to succeed him would be David Waisman, the second vice-president (the first vice-president Raúl Diez Canseco was obliged to resign over a corruption scandal). Waisman, however, is not a very credible figure, and it could therefore be the president of Congress who would take over.

On the opposition side, APRA and the Unidad Nacional (UN) coalition are both backing Antero Flores Araoz, a fairly senior figure from the ranks of the PPC. For its part, the ruling coalition is supporting Luis Solari, the right-wing former prime minister.