Peru’s first female President, Dina Boluarte is pushing to establish her hold on power, saying she expects to complete the term of her ousted predecessor and oppose the nation’s trend of presidential failures.
Yet, even as Dina Boluarte made the proposal on Thursday, December 8, 2022, some politicians already are calling for early elections in an indication of continued political rancor.
Boluarte was elevated from Vice President to replace leftist Pedro Castillo as the country’s leader on Wednesday, December 7, 2022 after he angered many by trying to dissolve the legislature before a scheduled impeachment vote.
Boluarte argued that she should be allowed to hold the office for the remaining three and half years of Castillo’s term.
At her first news conference, held a day after Castillo was voted out of office and arrested on charges of rebellion just 17 months into his term, the new President iterated, “The constitution is the magna carta that all Peruvians must obey,” and it calls for the presidential term to run until July 28, 2026.
After being sworn in as president, Boluarte called for a truce with legislators who dismissed Castillo for “permanent moral incapacity,” a clause of the constitution that experts say is so vague it allows the removal of a president for almost any reason.
The clause was also used to oust President Martín Vizcarra, who governed in 2018-2020.
“I know that there are voices that are calling for early elections. That is democracy,” Boluarte intimated.
However, she added that there is a need for stability in Peru, a strongly polarized country that has had six presidents in the last six years.
Seeking to avoid being added to the list of dormant Presidents, Boluarte quickly began to show herself in public working as Peru’s new head of state.
Dina Boluarte met with groups of conservative and liberal lawmakers at the presidential palace. Before that, she danced an Andean dance after watching a Roman Catholic procession of the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception.
Analysts, however, predicted a tough road for the new president, a 60-year-old lawyer and political neophyte.
A poll by the Institute of Peruvian Studies in November, 2022 revealed that most Peruvians might want a ballot before 2026, with 86% of those surveyed saying they preferred early presidential and congressional elections if Castillo should be removed.
Luis Mendieta, who was Castillo’s chief of staff, said he hoped Boluarte can build alliances in Congress that “will allow her to approve more than 64 important bills that the Castillo government is leaving.”
“She must also look for a Cabinet that guarantees governability; difficult but it can be achieved,” Mendieta added.
Dina Boluarte Does Not Have The Tools To Govern
Former President, Ollanta Humala, who governed from 2011 to 2016, was skeptical, noting that the new leader was not involved in politics or government before becoming vice president and has no base in Congress.
“She does not have the tools to govern,” Humala opined.
The Former President predicted that any truce with Congress “will last a month or perhaps more, but then the great problems of the country come upon her.”
The governor of Cusco, Jean Paul Benavente, demanded that the new president calls an early vote, claiming that would offer a “solution to the political crisis of the country.”
Meanwhile, small demonstrations by Castillo supporters continued in the streets of the capital and other parts of Peru, including Tacabamba, the district capital closest to the rural home of Castillo.
Protesters demanded that he should be released, rejected Boluarte as president and called for Congress to be closed.
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