Peru: the new president calls for early elections, while demonstrations rock the country
Chaos descends in Peru and now even the highest offices fear social upheavals . Peru's President Dina Boluarte ruled out resigning and insisted on the need to bring forward presidential elections a day after Congress voted against the proposal, rejecting the government's attempt to ease the political crisis that began with the former's impeachment leader Pedro Castillo.
Boluarte said his resignation will not solve the country's political crisis. “We will stand here until Congress resolves the snap election issue,” he said during a press conference with members of his cabinet and the military on Saturday.
Boluarte has asked Congress to pass the constitutional reform needed to organize early voting. “I ask that the vote on the snap election be reconsidered,” he said. "83% of the Peruvian population wants early elections, don't look for excuses to avoid bringing forward the elections, don't hide behind abstention".
Too bad that on Friday, Congress voted against the reform to bring forward the elections to 2023, failing to raise the two-thirds necessary to approve it. Castillo's five-year term is currently scheduled to end in 2026.
Congressional President Jose Williams later said the body would consider a request to review the constitutional reform proposal. “We will work on the reconsideration to see if the votes are achieved,” he said at a news conference following a State Council meeting.
Meanwhile Peru is in the midst of a political crisis that has seen widespread unrest. At least 20 people have died in clashes with police, according to the health ministry, and the government declared a 30-day state of national emergency on Wednesday in a bid to restore order, lift blockades and reopen roads. the police are repressing the demonstrations in an increasingly brutal way and there are images of soldiers or police officers shooting into the crowd
The government's priority, underlined Boluarte, is to restore road and airport connections, allowing for the distribution of food.
Speaking alongside Boluarte, the head of the Armed Forces Joint Command Miguel Gomez said the security forces had "recovered normalcy" in the country and that there were no protests on Saturday morning.
Boluarte, Castillo's vice president, who was sworn in Congress after his ousting, first called for the election to be brought forward by two years, to 2024, and then advocated for an even faster timeline. Castillo's supporters, who have protested against the president's removal for corruption, are calling for elections as soon as possible.
Signs of tension have also already hit Boluarte's cabinet: Culture Minister Jair Perez and Education Minister Patricia Correa have published their letters of resignation on Twitter. “State violence cannot be disproportionate and generate death,” Correa wrote.
Boluarte said he will announce the changes in his cabinet, without giving details on the ministers he will appoint or the dates. He also called for peace and dialogue between the different political sectors. “Dina Boluarte's government is a transitional government, in this short period of time we have
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The article Peru: the new president calls for early elections, while demonstrations rock the country comes from Scenari Economici .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/peru-il-nuovo-presidente-chiede-elezioni-anticipate-mentre-le-manifestazioni-scuotono-il-paese/ on Sat, 17 Dec 2022 17:54:23 +0000.