Peru’s Congress on Tuesday opened the doors to a general election advance by agreeing to return to discuss a project aimed at calming protests unleashed after President Pedro Castillo was ousted and among those already more than 20 people have died and who could not continue last week.
With 94 yes votes and 25 no votes from a total of 130 MPs, the motion to overturn the rejection of the project last Friday was approved.
The initiative aims to slash executive and legislature mandates that were due to end in 2026 amid demonstrations calling for new elections, the closure of Congress and the resignation of Dina Boluarte, who took over the presidency after Castillo’s departure.
The session of Congress began with a minute’s silence for the 26th death, which the government said had occurred the day before in a confrontation between law enforcement and informal miners who had blocked the highway in the Chala area of the Arequipa region. about 610 kilometers south of Lima.
The project proposes that parliamentary elections take place in December 2023 and the current mandates end in July 2024.
Those on the left, who voted against the proposal, claim that a popular consultation should be added on whether they want a Constituent Assembly to prepare a new Magna Carta and that the command cut should come in July 2023 because of the protests require speed.
The right, on the other hand, contends that other reforms must be incorporated lest the government and elected congressmen re-evoke popular resentment that the current ones have.
Meanwhile, the protests continue. The day before, the Ministry of Health reported 26 deaths and 39 hospitalizations.
Analysts consulted by The Associated Press qualified the impact of the snap election.
“At this point, while important, it will no longer be enough,” said political scientist Verónica Ayala, professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru.
“It is not enough to push the elections from above, but to do it in a convocative way. Therein lies the problem of the streets: they are not taken into account in the big decisions,” said political scientist Martín Navarro, professor at the Universidad Mayor de San Marcos.
Political scientist Paolo Sosa, researcher at the Institute of Peruvian Studies, believes that the population perceives that “Congressmen are trying to take their time to stay or implement reforms that will allow them to be re-elected. The dissatisfaction of those protesting with politics makes their demand maximalist: that they all leave as soon as possible”.