Peru Congress chooses new president
LIMA: Peru’s Congress on Monday chose a 76-year-old former World Bank official as the South American country’s new president - the third in a rollercoaster week of political upheaval.
Francisco Sagasti was elected as lawmakers met to try to move on from a crippling political crisis, sparked by the impeachment of a popular president and the resignation of his controversial successor amid protests that killed two people.
Sagasti, from the centrist Morado party, will serve as interim president until the end of July 2021, completing the mandate of Martin Vizcarra, whose impeachment by Congress last Monday set off a snowballing crisis.
“What our country lacks at the moment is confidence. Trust us, we will act as we say,” Sagasti said before Congress.
“When a Peruvian dies, and even more so if he is young, it is all of Peru that mourns. And if he dies defending democracy, the mourning is aggravated by indignation,” he added, referring to the two protesters who died.
The gray-bearded former engineer is no political veteran, however, having been elected to Congress only in March this year.
He will be sworn in at a special congressional session on Tuesday.
His predecessor, former Congress speaker Manuel Merino, was forced to resign on Sunday after days of street protests culminated the day before in the death of two people.
As speaker of Congress, he was next in line, as the post of vice president was vacant.
Congress, half of whose members face criminal inquiries, remains deeply unpopular over its removal of Vizcarra.
Comments from Mirtha Vasquez, who was elected speaker of Congress in the same session, were clearly aimed at seeking to open a new chapter.
“I thank the population for all the effort. We regret the death of two citizens. This generation of young people has given us a lesson in how to redirect the destiny of the state,” Vasquez said.
Many in the streets opposed what they said was a parliamentary coup against Vizcarra, who won popular backing over pledges to root out entrenched corruption in Peruvian politics since assuming power in 2018.
However, he eventually fell afoul of opponents in Congress, where he lacked a party of his own, as well as a solid majority. Sagasti’s Morado party was the only one that voted against Vizcarra’s impeachment.
Monday’s meeting of Congress was its second attempt to agree on a president, and Sagasti was applauded by the session once he secured the minimum 60 votes required.