The political blockage continues in Peru, where after having suffered three consecutive failures, President Dina Boluarte will again ask Parliament to bring forward the elections, in the hope of calming the protest that has been raging for seven weeks.
After five hours of debate on Wednesday February 1 in Parliament, 68 deputies voted against the organization of early elections in December 2023, 54 voted in favor and two voted blank. Left-leaning MPs greeted the rejection with applause and shouts of victory.
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The project had been presented by the right-wing Fuerza Popular party, but it had the support of left-wing president Dina Boluarte. He recommended bringing forward the ballot scheduled for April 2024 to the end of the year, thus hoping to calm the protest which has left 48 dead in seven weeks.
“Total divorce between the political class and the citizens”
It is the third time since December that the parliament has refused to advance the election to 2023. After Wednesday’s new rejection, the presidency announced that it would present ” at once “ a new project to advance the ballot.
The demonstrators demand the resignation of Dina Boluarte, but also the dissolution of Parliament, largely discredited in public opinion, general elections and a Constituent Assembly.
The unrest erupted after the dismissal and arrest on December 7 of left-wing president Pedro Castillo, accused of having attempted a coup d’etat by wanting to dissolve the Parliament which was preparing to oust him from power. Vice President Dina Boluarte, whom protesters consider a “treacherous”then replaced him.
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“It is a total divorce between the political class and the citizens. It is a ticking time bomb, the worst scenario that could happen to the country, with a president who will not resign, and a Parliament which intends to carry on as if nothing had happened. said Alonso Cardenas, professor of political science at Antonio Ruiz de Montoya University in Lima.
On Sunday, Dina Boluarte had tried to put pressure on Parliament, speaking of “historical responsibility”.
“Struggle of Deep Peru”
Parliament is divided into more than ten political forces, not counting the independents. No party has an absolute majority and each vote must be subject to negotiations and alliances. The left, which voted against the early elections, wants to associate any new ballot with a referendum on a new Constitution. This question is one of the main points of contention within Parliament.
Protests, with road blockages and demonstrations, continue in several parts of the country. Several hundred people marched peacefully in Lima on Wednesday, during a now daily meeting in the center of the capital.
It is “the deep struggle (of Peru) that feeds the country. We want the resignation of Dina Boluarte and elections in April”says Cintya Huancco, an agricultural engineer, who demonstrates dressed in traditional colorful Aimara outfit, an ethnic group from the Puno region on the Bolivian border.
In the central Andean region of Junin, dozens of residents blocked the central highway and streets in the city of Huancayo, some 300 km from Lima.
On the economic side, the Las Bambas copper mine, which belongs to the Chinese consortium MMG, suspended its activities on Wednesday due to road blockages. Las Bambas, located 4,000 meters above sea level, accounts for about 15% of the copper production of Peru, the second largest world producer of this ore after Chile. It contributes 1% of the country’s GDP. Its production volume of nearly 400,000 tonnes is equivalent to 2% of world copper production.
After being delayed for fifteen days because of the protests, the Peruvian football championship will finally start on Friday, but in stadiums without an audience, the Federation announced.
