Congress of Peru restarts session to discuss advancement of elections to 2023

The Peruvian Congress restarted this Wednesday the debate on the advancement of the elections for this year, an attempt to calm the wave of protests calling for the resignation of President Dina Boluarte and parliamentary renewal.

The bill that will be debated in this Wednesday’s session It contemplates anticipating the general elections for December 2023 and that the new authorities take office in May 2024, according to what the president of the Parliament, José Williams, read after the restart of the session at 11:40 am, local time.

In December, Congress approved to advance the elections to April 2024.

“The purpose of this proposal is only one, we have advanced this issue because our country is bleeding to death,” said Fujimori parliamentarian Hernando Guerra García of Fuerza Popular (right).

Congress suspended Tuesday for the third time, since Friday, the session to debate and vote on the early elections, divided by the interest of the leftist benches in conditioning their vote in exchange for a referendum to form a Constituent Assembly.

(You may be interested in: The keys to find an exit door in Peru)

“Today the Congress will make an important decision in the face of the political crisis,” said the head of Parliament, José Williams, on Twitter. “Who should win is the vast majority of Peruvians,” he said.

In a parliament divided into more than ten political forces, in addition to independent congressmen, the right-wing benches promote the advancement of elections.

Boluarte and the right-wing Fuerza Popular party defend the early elections to appease the protests that have left 48 dead since the crisis began on December 7 with the impeachment and arrest of former leftist president Pedro Castillo, who tried to dissolve Congress and govern by decree.

(Keep reading: Peru promises the UN to investigate complaints about police violence)

Parallel to the political crisis, protests continued on Wednesday in parts of the country, including downtown Lima. In the southern Andes, a region historically neglected, there were roadblocks with tires and logs on fire.

In the central Andean region of Junín, dozens of residents blocked the central highway and streets of the city of Huancayo, some 300 km from Lima. In Puno (southeast), under a light rain, dozens of peasants and transporters carried out a mobilization through the streets of Juliaca.

EFE