“Ladies and gentlemen of Congress, you have to understand your historical responsibility, tomorrow you have the opportunity to earn the trust of the country by meeting this long-awaited demand by the Peruvian people,” Boluarte said in a message to the nation in reference to the planned review session.
Pressure
“The responsibility of approving the advancement of elections for this year 2023 depends on the Congress of the Republic. For this reason, I announce that if the consensus does not prosper, the Executive will be presenting two initiatives as a matter of urgency,” said the president.
“Vote for Peru, in favor of the country, advancing the elections to 2023 and let’s say to all of Peru with the highest responsibility that we are all leaving,” he closed.
Plan B
If the rejection of early elections is imposed again -the regular schedule establishes them only for 2026-, Boluarte said that he would present a draft reform of the Constitution to hold the elections, with the first round in October of this year and the second in December.
He will also propose a bill for the next legislature to delegate powers to the Constitution Commission on the total reform of the fundamental charter of 1993, when power was exercised by Alberto Fujimori, today imprisoned for crimes of corruption and crimes against humanity.
Boluarte, who initially intended to complete the mandate of Pedro Castillo and later spoke of anticipating the elections to 2024, addressed the country a few hours before Congress debated the request to reconsider the rejection decided on Saturday of the advancement of elections to October of this year, by a majority of 65 votes to 45.
In addition, the protest on Saturday in Lima – which called for the resignation of Boluarte and elections as soon as possible – put more pressure on the Government after the most violent episodes to date were recorded in the Peruvian capital, where a protester died for the impact of a heavy object on the head, indicated the medical report.
With this new victim, the death toll in the demonstrations since the protests began in December rose to 48, including a police officer.
On the other hand, the Ombudsman’s Office adds another 10 deaths associated with the protests, especially in the blockades of dozens of routes that have accentuated the shortage of food and fuel in a large part of the country.
Reports of indiscriminate repression also put pressure on the government.
Source: Ambito
