Boluarte under pressure to call for early elections

Peruvian President Dina Boluarte’s interim government might not be strong enough to make it to April 2024, the date penciled in by Congress for new elections, as protests continue to back her administration into a corner.

With this in mind, Ms. Boluarte has instructed members of the Executive — notably the Justice and Human Rights Ministers — to work on a new bill bringing the electoral process forward even sooner, a report from Peruvian newspaper El Comercio said on Wednesday.

The bill would ask Congress for an “urgent” new change of date, moving the vote to the end of 2023. But it is not clear that such reform would have unanimous support within Ms. Boluarte’s cabinet, with Prime Minister Alberto Otálora stating today that the government is “satisfied” with the schedule currently proposed by Congress.

Elections for a full renewal of Congress and a new president were originally scheduled for 2026, but protesters have demanded they be held immediately since the impeachment of President Pedro Castillo. 

The clash between protesters and authorities has consumed the country since then, leading to the death of at least 55 people since December, according to Peru’s Public Defender’s Office. Human rights watchdogs also report a list of arbitrary police behavior and abuses. 

Last week, chaos reached the capital Lima despite a state of emergency and escalated into a conflict at the country’s oldest university over the weekend.

During a speech before the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) today, Ms. Boluarte once again endorsed her administration’s plan to lead the country until “free and democratic elections” are held, rejecting “acts of violence” across the country. 

Without naming names, she also took aim at “regional leaders” who criticized what she described as “the only way” out of the crisis. “What solutions are you thinking for Peru? Peace or violence?” she said. This week, leaders such as Chilean President Gabriel Boric spoke out against police violence in Peru, calling it “scenes of dictatorship times.”

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