Friday, January 27, 2023 | 6:33 p.m.
The president of Peru, Dina Boluarte, asked Congress this Friday to advance the elections to December of this year, given the crisis that the country is experiencing, where protests have been taking place for weeks that have left at least 48 dead and are beginning to affect the supply in the southern provinces.
After noting that in principle “from the Executive we had proposed that these elections be brought forward to April 2024 (…). However, the protests continue, there are more blockades and violence,” Boluarte told the local press that after discussing it With the Minister of Justice and the Chief of Staff, Alberto Otárola, the proposal is that the elections be held in December 2023.
“That the elections be brought forward to the date and time that Congress says. Immediately, from the Executive, we will be calling those elections. Nobody has any interest in clinging to power (…) We will be here until Congress (defines). Get down agree: on that day the elections and, at that moment, we will be calling general elections,” said Boluarte, who took office on December 7 after the dismissal and arrest of former president Pedro Castillo, of whom he was vice-president, according to the station RPP.
The Fuerza Popular party, of former presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori, had asked Congress on Thursday to advance the general elections for this year, but the chief of staff rejected it on the grounds that they would not be transparent.
However, Boluarte said that he did not object to the proposal of the right-wing party, but pointed out that the insistence of the left-wing benches that a constituent referendum be held together with the cut in mandate “is one more justification to be able to radicalize and continue bloody the country “.
Congress will resume the session this Friday to evaluate the advancement of elections proposed by the Executive for April 2024, which had already been approved in a first vote in December. In that instance, Fuerza Popular is expected to present a new substitute text so that the elections can be held in December of this year.
Peru has experienced a wave of protests since December 7, when Congress dismissed Castillo, hours after the then president announced the closure of the Legislature and the establishment of an emergency government with the suppression of constitutional guarantees, after several attempts by the opposition blocs to remove him from office.
During the protests, at least 48 people died in clashes, including a police officer, and another 10 died from traffic accidents and events related to blockades, according to data from the Ombudsman’s Office.
The indefinite strike and the prolonged blockade of roads to demand the resignation of the President, new elections and a referendum to create a constituent assembly are causing food and fuel shortages in the southern regions.
Source: Telam
