“I want to say it with absolute clarity: the president is not going to resign, that’s not going to happen,” he said at a news conference not attended by Boluarte, who has not appeared publicly or spoken to the press since Jan. 8 , when the die-off began in the southern Andean region of Puno.
He added that the President will not step down by personal decision, but because “the Constitution requires that this constitutional succession take place, and because leaving the Presidency of the Republic would open a very dangerous floodgate for anarchy and mismanagement, and it will not.” happen .”
“The President is determined to lead the country, she is not governing on autopilot, we are making decisions in favor of the 33 million Peruvians,” Otárola said.
He described the protests’ demands for the president’s resignation and immediate elections, which were also raised by regional governors across the country, and a referendum on a constituent assembly, as a maximalist and unworkable agenda.
He dismissed accusations that the government had suppressed the protests and claimed that police and airports in different parts of the country had been attacked by protesters, although the human rights coordinator denounced extrajudicial executions, massacres, arbitrary arrests and other ill-treatment.
Refraining from self-criticism about his handling of the crisis before a specific question, the prime minister said the demonstrations began after Boluarte took office on December 7 and were prepared during a year and a half of President Pedro Castillo’s tenure, deposed by Congress and imprisoned that day .
Insisting on defending the actions of the security forces, he said that yesterday at a meeting with the delegation from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, who had arrived to review the situation, he stated that thousands of people had been attacked in Peru’s airports and other bodies, and the government only fulfilled what it called the obligation to use force legitimately.
Otárola appeared uncomfortable with the president’s immediate notification of him and other investigators about an investigation into genocide, manslaughter and other charges, and the deaths during the protests, noting that he also hopes those he thinks will be investigated They attacked the state and are responsible for the situation.
jha/mrs