Vizcarra’s clean up bid sees ratings rebound
CALEMAR: Martin Vizcarra stepped down from a military helicopter into a small Peruvian jungle village where no president had ventured before.
Donning thick-soled boots, he journeyed across the banks of an Amazonian tributary to inaugurate a new bridge replacing a rope-and-basket system people had used for decades to cross the churning current below.
“If you’ve always been forgotten, that’s changed,” Mr Vizcarra said to applause. “From now on, you have a president who cares.”
The president is on a crusade to clean up Peru’s corrupt politics and become a voice for the poor and forgotten after his surprising ascension earlier this year with the resignation of President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski over corruption allegations.
Initially dismissed by critics as a weak leader who would struggle to mend a divided nation, Mr Vizcarra has instead won the praise of a jaded public.
He’s now pushing forward a referendum on Dec 9 aimed at preventing abuse of power following a series of corruption scandals that ended the careers of some of the nation’s highest profile judges and politicians.
The vote is expected to sail through as Mr Vizcarra channels a growing wave of anger over misbehaving leaders.
The civil engineer-turned-politico took the reins of one of Latin America’s fastest growing economies in March after Mr Kuczynski stepped down amid accusations by opposition lawmakers that he had failed to reveal financial ties to Odebrecht, the Brazilian construction firm at the center of the region’s biggest graft scandal.
Few thought the bespectacled substitute president, who had no political party and faced a hostile opposition majority in Congress, would last very long or leave a mark.
Indeed, in his first four months in office, polls showed Mr Vizcarra’s approval rating dropping 25 points.
Then came the release of dozens of secretly recorded audio files capturing crooked judges, lawmakers and businessmen negotiating behind-the-scenes deals — one on the sentence of a man charged with raping an 11-year-old girl.
Seizing the moment, Mr Vizcarra vowed he would do everything in his power to put an end to bribery, nepotism and fraud.
“I am with those who want to eradicate corruption,” Mr Vizcarra said during the annual presidential address to the nation.
The push for a referendum appears to have marked a sea change for Mr Vizcarra, whose approval rating now stands at 61% — a major feat in a nation where most leaders leave office in the single digits.
Seeking to capitalise on the public outrage, the referendum asks voters whether they want to impose term limits on legislators and make campaign financing more transparent, among other measures.
Analysts say that while Mr Vizcarra may have defied expectations, he will need to show he can bring results quickly to keep enjoying popularity. Peru is struggling to rebuild from deadly coastal storms in 2017 that flooded cities and destroyed thousands of homes. Nearly a quarter of the nation still lives in poverty and millions still lack access to safe drinking water.