The country continues to be rocked by mass protests and riots in which at least 48 people have lost their lives since December 7.
Peru’s parliament on Wednesday again rejected a move to bring elections scheduled for 2024 to December 2023, as the country continues to be rocked by mass protests and riots that have killed at least 48 people. from December 7th.
Based on the final count, 68 members of Congress voted against, 54 in favor and two abstained after a five-hour session.
“The constitutional review proposal did not secure the required number of votes,” summed up Parliament President Jose Williams.
MPs of the left welcomed the result with applause, cheers and cheers.
The proposal was tabled by the party Fuerza Popular (“Popular Force”, the populist right, the faction of the Fujimori family) and was supported by Dina Boluarte, the president who had been elected vice president as a candidate of a party of the radical left.
Mrs. Boulwarte and the right were proposing that the elections scheduled for April 2024 be held at the end of the year, in the hope that this would end the mass mobilizations.
It is the third time since December that Peru’s parliament has refused to give the green light to holding elections in 2023. It had already rejected the proposal on Saturday. After a seven-hour session on Monday, the vote was adjourned until Tuesday, then Wednesday.
The protesters are demanding that President Boulwarte resign, that Congress, in which public opinion has no confidence, be dissolved, that parliamentary and presidential elections be called immediately and that a Constituent Assembly be convened.
“Time bomb”
The Latin American country’s deep political and social crisis erupted after the suspension, arrest and pretrial detention on December 7 of leftist former President Pedro Castillo, who was accused of attempting a “coup” by announcing that he would dissolve Congress, as this was preparing to remove him from power. He was succeeded by his vice-president at the time, Mrs. Boluarte, whom the protesters describe as a “traitor”.
“This is an absolute divorce of the political class and the citizens. It’s a ticking time bomb, the worst scenario that the country could live with, with a president who won’t resign and a parliament that wants to keep doing nothing,” said Alonso Cardenas, professor of political science at Antonio Ruiz de Montoya University in File.
On Sunday, Ms. Boulwarte stepped up the pressure on parliament, speaking of a “historic responsibility.”
“Vote for Peru, for the country, speeding up the elections, defining that they will be held in 2023 and let’s say to all of Peru with the greatest responsibility that we will all leave,” she said during her address to the nation.
The Peruvian Congress is characterized as fragmented, with more than ten parties, not counting independents. No party has an absolute majority of seats and therefore negotiations and alliances are required in every vote.
The left, which voted against holding elections in 2023, wants any new vote to be held at the same time as a referendum on a new constitution. This is a divisive issue in Congress. Its members are meeting again today to consider it.
Demonstrations and road blockades continue in various parts of the country. A new mobilization was to take place in the evening in the capital.
In the central Hunin region in the Andes, dozens of residents blocked a main highway and streets in the town of Huancayo, about 300 kilometers from Lima.
In the Puno region (southeast), in the rain, dozens of farmers and transport workers took part in a street mobilization in Juliaka.
The copper mine in Las Babas, which is owned by the Chinese conglomerate MMG, suspended its activity on Wednesday due to road blockades.
The Las Babas mine, at an altitude of 4,000 meters, accounts for 15% of the copper production of Peru, the country that ranks second in the world in terms of the production of this mineral, behind Chile. Copper production corresponds to 1% of GDP.
With nearly 400,000 tonnes, the Latin American country contributes 2% of global copper production.
RES-EMP
Read the News today and get the latest news.
Follow Skai.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news.
With a wealth of experience honed over 4+ years in journalism, I bring a seasoned voice to the world of news. Currently, I work as a freelance writer and editor, always seeking new opportunities to tell compelling stories in the field of world news.
