With the country in turmoil and more than 20 dead, the president demanded that Parliament not look for excuses and vote now for this measure that, she supposes, would alleviate the crisis.
With more than 20 deaths from the blockades, the violent marches in defense of former coup leader Pedro Castillo and the harsh repression, President Dina Boluarte He had to come out this Saturday to deny that he is considering resigning.
On the contrary, he severely demanded that Congress decide once and for all on the call for early elections, the valve that could largely dissolve the convulsion that corners Peru.
The president, who until ten days ago was Castillo’s deputy, faces growing difficulties that clearly jeopardize the stability of their government of emergency.
Boluarte took office after the former president surprised the country by announcing the closure of the unicameral Parliament and the formation of a de facto government, led by decree.
The coup was defeated in barely two hours due to the lack of military support for the attempt. Castillo tried to flee to the Mexican embassy and ended up arrested on charges of rebellion. But since then the country has burned with supporters of the former president who have demanded immediate elections and even a commitment to draft a new Constitution.
“What is resolved with my resignation?” asked the president at a press conference on the same day that she received a call for support from US Foreign Minister Antony Blinken.
In the midst of the escalation of the crisis, Boluarte demanded that the congressmen, who a day before had rejected his project to anticipate the elections, that they “do not look for pretexts” and Vote in advance of the elections for December 2023.
Furthermore, he confirmed that will relaunch his cabinet and that he will go to the south of the country, where he dictated a curfew and the military has already been deployed to cut off the protests of Castillo’s followers.
Strong support for advancement
Weakened in the unicameral Congress of 130 legislators, where not one of the parliamentarians is his own, Boluarte, was taken from a survey by the Institute of Peruvian Studies published this Saturday by the newspaper The Republicwhich indicates that 83% of those consulted want an advance for the elections.
He used the data four times in the almost two-hour conference and addressed the congressmen directly. It is that the president’s bill to shorten the mandate of the Executive and Legislative was responded with strong close the door by Congress using that initiative as an extortion tool.
The measure required 87 votes in two sessions or 66 votes that later had to be ratified via referendum, but it did not achieve either of the two alternatives. It garnered 49 votes in favor, 33 against, and 25 abstentions.
“Do not look for excuses not to advance the elections. Do not abstain from voting, vote directly in the interest of the country, do not hide behind an abstention, it is either white or black, half measures do not solve the country’s problems”, Boluarte said in an angry tone.
The president believes that if she shows Peruvians that by law there will be elections next year, the crisis will calm down and she will gain legitimacy. In her unease with Congress, the 60-year-old center-left lawyer criticized the left, which first called for elections in 2023 and now demands a Constituent Assembly knowing that it is impossible in this context.
He also pointed to congressmen who are bolted to their seats in Congress and do not want to leave before July 2026.
All eyes are on Parliament. On Friday at the end of the meeting of the State Council that brings together the country’s main organizations, José Williams, president of Congress, left the door open for vote again the early elections if consensus is reached.
The price of that negotiation may be too high if legislators do not act with haste and responsibility something that they have not done in this crisis, nor when they hit Castillo in the last year and a half.
This Saturday, when the cabinet was a week old, there were already two casualties. The Ministers of Education and Culture resigned due to the violent repression. One of the toughest, Defense Minister Alberto Otárola, a former official in the Ollanta Humala government, also convicted of corruption, He was ambiguous when answering about the excessive use of force.
However, the appearance of Boluarte occurs in a framework of apparent truce. Although according to the same opinion study, 71% reject that she has taken office as president, this Saturday the Cusco airport had resumed its operations. They expected the same in Arequipa, the country’s second city.
Also, this Saturday there were no more deaths and Castillo added 48 hours since he has not written encouraging the protests.
Boluarte repeated the message of peace and dialogue, at the conference he spoke in fluent Quechua. She also victimized herself for being a woman, assured that “the machos” do not let her work and reiterated that she will start the day on Monday in the city of Ica, one of the conflictive ones in the south of the country.
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