Congress of Peru gives its support to the new Boluarte cabinet in the midst of the Rolex scandal

The Congress of Peru gave its support this Wednesday to the new cabinet of President Dina Boluarte, in the midst of a crisis over the acquisition of undeclared Rolex luxury watches, after the president of the Council of Ministers, Gustavo Adrianzén, went to the Legislature to ask for his vote of confidence.

With votes of 70 in favor, 38 against and 17 abstentions, Adrianzén obtained the simple majority necessary in this mandatory process for each new Peruvian cabinet, after a long debate in the plenary session starring the scandal of watches and other luxury objects for which the president is being investigated.

Although the Congress supported the prime minister's cabinet, The debate was characterized by harsh criticism of the Executive for that case, as well as the increase in citizen insecurity.

The request for confidence is a mandatory procedure that every prime minister must follow within 30 days of his appointment. If you do not receive the green light, you must resign from the position.

If Congress twice denies confidence to two cabinets appointed by a president during his term, The ruler can close Congress and immediately call elections.

During this Wednesday's session, some parliamentarians recalled the dozens of deaths of protesters in the anti-government protests at the end of 2022 and beginning of 2023.

Mostly, the left-wing congressmen voted against Adrianzén's cabinet, while the right-wing and conservative groups positioned themselves in favor “for the stability of the country.”

“You cannot talk about clean hands without first answering for your own falsehoods, how can you ask for trust if the president cannot explain the origin of the watches and valuable goods?” said Edgar Mercado, of the party, when announcing his refusal to Adrianzén. progressive Democratic Change-Together for Peru.

The Marxist Peru Libre party, the party to which Boluarte belonged and which has promoted a dismissal motion against the president, was very harsh with the Executive.

Parliamentarian Jaime Quito, members of its ranks, defined the cabinet as “that of distrust, death and Rolexes.”

Legislator Margot Palacios, also
from Perú Libre, asked to broadcast a video in which Adrianzén, in a hearing of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), accused the protesters of being violent and responsible for the deaths of said protests.

“To request a vote of confidence, the president should have given that vote of confidence to the citizens by being clear for 15 dayswith that message to the nation (about the watches) and not keep us in suspense with this social upheaval,” said congresswoman from the right-wing Avanza País party, Norma Yarrow, adding that she was not going to give the vote of confidence.

On the other hand, all the Fujimori parliamentarians gave their vote of confidence to the cabinet “for the stability of the country” and because “there is a lot to do,” but they criticized that the president has not given explanations for the watches.

EFE