Congress will debate the PERU CONGRESS election push on Tuesday (via Portal)
Time in the Peruvian Congress is different than it is on the street. In an impressive semicircle of gold and yellow columns, the 130 members of Congress sat down again this Tuesday to discuss the snap elections in Peru. It’s the second time they’ve done so, having turned it down last Friday. Outside of that, protests continue inland two weeks after the fall of Pedro Castillo. 26 people have already been killed in clashes with police and army. All far from Lima, the capital that administers the country’s political, business, and economic power. The protesters are calling for the closure of Congress and new elections, but none of that will happen anytime soon.
The text, which parliamentarians will vote on again, proposes elections in December 2023, within a year. They claim that this is the shortest possible time to prepare a new election call. Among other reasons, they claim that they need to carry out political reforms beyond the legal deadlines in order to achieve elections with greater guarantees for citizens. As one right-wing congresswoman put it: “It would be too irresponsible to close this congress, give them the same terms and pick a worse one than the one we’re closing.” A worse one than ours, he wanted to say.
The Peruvian Congress is the political institution least valued by the citizens. A month before Castillo publicly rehearsed a clumsy self-coup that landed him in prison for rebellion, the president had more popular support than parliament. Many are now wondering what legitimacy these congressmen have to enact the electoral reforms the country needs to emerge from the political crisis.
Legislative inaction by Congress has marked the last year and a half since the last election. Parliament was established from day one in President Castillo’s first counterweight and the struggle between the two powers occupied the country teacher’s entire mandate. He, who never achieved a stable government and piled up allegations of corruption, lived tormented by no-confidence motions. In the afternoon, when he announced the self-coup, he had to face the third. For many of his followers, Castillo is just a victim of a corrupt Congress; for others, the president and parliamentarians are equally responsible for Peru’s recent political failure. “They make fun of people,” says Lizzy Díaz, who has recently taken to the streets of Lima to protest and call for the closure of parliament.
Political tensions have increased further. The new president, Dina Boluarte, who took office with the idea of governing until 2026, when Castillo’s term should end, is already calling it an “interim government”. Amid the protests and violence, Boluarte declared a 30-day state of emergency and imposed a curfew in 15 regions. Deaths, particularly among young people, have continued to rise. The President has demanded that Congressmen approve the election proposal, but she has no power to enforce it. “Don’t be blind,” he rebuked her this week.
Last Friday, just 49 members of Congress voted half in favor of the decision to bring the elections forward to December 2023. Some left-wing lawmakers voted against. “We can’t stay another 16 months, it’s not sustainable. let’s all go now As soon as possible,” Congresswoman Sigrid Bazán said. But so far December 2023 is the only opinion being discussed.
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Political scientist Fernando Tuesta sees street pressure compelling congressmen to debate the issue, but they do so “between interests and a resistance not to move forward”. In Peru, there is no re-election to Congress – or any other institution – that would force the 130 parliamentarians to resign, explaining in part their opposition to early termination of a term. But the screaming is too loud now. According to the latest survey by the Peruvian Institute of Economics, 83% of Peruvians want an election advance.
While the debate drags on and a date is sought, protests and roadblocks continue in various regions of the south of the country. Families have started burying their dead and are demanding justice. A delegation from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) arrives in the country on Tuesday to analyze the social and political crisis. The program includes a visit to Ayacucho, where nine people died last Thursday during the violent repression by the army.
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