Vizcarra calls for unity after Congress renews confidence in govt
LIMA: Peru’s opposition- run Congress renewed its confidence in the government of centrist President Martin Vizcarra, averting a political crisis that would have cost him his Cabinet and triggered new legislative elections.
The 82-22 vote in favour of Vizcarra’s six-month-old government commits lawmakers to passing his judicial and political reforms by Oct 4, a rare victory over the conservative opposition party, Popular Force, that controls Congress.
On Wednesday, Popular Force leader Keiko Fujimori, a twice-defeated presidential candidate and the daughter of former autocrat Alberto Fujimori, accused Vizcarra of trying to stage a legislative coup d’etat.
Under Peru’s constitution, a vote of no confidence would have forced Vizcarra to replace his entire Cabinet. But since Congress has already dismissed one Cabinet, he would also have been able to call new legislative elections in response.
Vizcarra called for unity after the vote: “There are no winners or losers here. Only Peru wins.”
Vizcarra had called for a vote of confidence to force passage of legislation aimed at curbing entrenched graft and rebuilding trust in public institutions following back-to-back scandals in the past year-and-a-half.
Critics of Popular Force had pressured Vizcarra to take a more confrontational stance toward the opposition party after it helped to topple his predecessor, former president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski.
Kuczynski resigned due to graft allegations on the eve of a second impeachment vote backed by Popular Force in March.
Vizcarra, his vice-president, took office to replace him with promises to fight graft “at any cost”.
I have “total confidence in receiving the vote of confidence today”, said Vizcarra in a press conference.
“The four Bills must be approved,” said Vizcarra who intends to modify the constitution, which include a new system for selecting judges, a return to a bi-cameral Congress, stricter campaign financing rules and a ban on the re-election of lawmakers.
He pitched the proposals in July after an influence-peddling scandal in the judiciary triggered street protests all over the country. — Reuters