Peru’s president, opposition leader vow cooperation after political tension
LIMA: Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and right-wing opposition leader Keiko Fujimori promised on Monday to work together for the good of the country following their first meeting since facing off in a divisive election in June.
The hour-long meeting, proposed and mediated by Catholic Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani, aimed at seeking a political truce after Fujimori's party pushed a motion through Congress last week ousting Kuczynski's education minister despite his pleas to spare him.
Kuczynski's defeat in that battle so early in his government spotlighted the power that Fujimori wields as the president of the Popular Force party that holds an absolute majority of seats in the single- chamber Congress.
Standing in front of Cipriani's home following the meeting, Fujimori noted that her party supported Kuczynski's initial series of reforms and approved his 2017 budget despite political differences with his government.
“But those differences are put aside and we're going to put Peru first as we always have,” Fujimori told journalists in a rare public appearance since she lost her second presidential bid by just tens of thousands of votes.
Fujimori, a former congresswoman and the eldest daughter of imprisoned former authoritarian President Alberto Fujimori, said Popular Force would remain a force for 'constructive opposition' in Kuczynski's five-year term. — Reuters