The Congress of Peru rejects the ninth electoral advance project

A Peruvian congressman confessed at the end of the plenary session on Thursday night that he no longer knew what day it was after meeting for so long. He looked tired. The day, however, was the least important because the result was the same as always. Congress once again rejected another project to advance the elections. Divided into two camps, politicians launch projects knowing that they have no chance of getting ahead. This Wednesday, 54 congressmen voted in favor of one presented by the Fujimori supporters, this Thursday there were 47 who supported another project by Peru Libre, the ninth to reach the plenary session. They are not even close to an agreement. The majority is at 87 votes.

The country is still mired in a social and political upheaval that seems to have no way out. The protests continue almost two months after Pedro Castillo’s failed self-coup and the death toll from police repression now totals 58. The feeling in the streets is that the situation has become unsustainable. Nobody thinks at this point in the elections as a solution, but rather as the lesser evil. At least, that they “all go” and other representatives are elected again. The decision of this electoral advance is in the hands of Congress, the worst valued institution in the country with a 7% approval rating, according to the latest polls.

There is not one of the 130 men and women in Congress who at this point of tension dares to say that he wants to stay until 2026, the date on which his term ends, but that is the message that reaches the public, who do not understand how not to they reach an agreement. The only time that sufficient votes were gathered was on December 20, when it was agreed to hold the elections in April 2024. This gave the president, Dina Boluarte, and the congressmen 20 more months in their positions. So, 26 people had already died in the protests. Today they are more than double.

The clamor for early elections is not just national. International organizations, such as the OAS, have requested that the call to the polls be made as soon as possible. But Congress remains self-absorbed and the congressmen each cling to their position without seeking consensus. Some want the elections to be held in 2024 so that political reforms can be made earlier, others want a constituent assembly to be convened in addition to the elections. Some projects, to try to win more supporters to their cause, even advocate for complementary elections that allow the re-election of congressmen to finish the 2021-2016 term. And there is no agreement.

The president says that everything is in the hands of Congress and refuses to resign from office, another way out that could lead to an electoral call. But Boluarte does not think about it. This same Thursday, while Congress was debating the new text to be rejected, the president traveled to Piura and was blunt: “My resignation is not at stake in this situation. I know that there is a minimal sector of the population of these groups that are generating violence and chaos in the country that, by way of blackmail, are putting the resignation of the president. We are not going to give in to that political, anarchic blackmail, which wants to lead the country into disorder and crisis.” However, for a majority of Peruvians, the country is already experiencing a disorder and a crisis that has not been remembered in decades.

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