Pedro Castillo: “the people are the government” in Peru | First speech as president-elect

From Lima

“The people are the government. This fight cannot be betrayed, ”exclaimed President-elect Pedro Castillo in front of an enthusiastic crowd during a rally on Friday evening. Shortly before, he had formally received his credentials as election winner and president-elect from the electoral authorities. During the official ceremony and in the popular demonstration, the rural teacher and trade union leader insisted on his calls “for the broadest unity”. Despite these calls for unity, the defeated right at the polls is sharpening its weapons against the left-wing government which will take office on Wednesday. This radical right and putschist seeks to take the presidency of the Congress, which will be elected this Monday.

From the balcony of the square

Castillo spoke to his supporters from a balcony overlooking the power plant Place Saint-Martin, located a few streets from the Government Palace and a traditional scene of political demonstrations and social protests. When he appeared on the balcony, red and white balloons were released, the national colors, fireworks were launched, and applause and slogans of support for the future left-wing government rang out. It was a night of popular jubilation. The teacher and peasant who comes from one of the poorest Andean regions of the country and who will assume the presidency of Peru in a few days, recalled his participation in the trade union struggles in this same place, which this time received him as president. elected . “I learned to fight in this public square with you, with the workers and the peasants. The best memory is the struggle with teachers across the country. Thanks to the struggle we now have a political project, an alternative for the country “, began his speech, which, as usual, was brief. It lasted ten minutes.

The elected president assured that he will not betray the hopes that the poorest and most excluded sectors have placed in him and asked the population to be vigilant in his management. “I ask you to be vigilant. You have been vigilant before, during and will also be vigilant afterwards on this path which we have undertaken. I have not only come to ask you to be government vigilantes, but to be members of the government. You are the government. The people are the government. Help us brothers to guide this work. It is the work of the Peruvian people. This is your fight. We will not betray the people. This fight cannot be betrayedThe crowd erupted into applause and cries of support.

Castillo called on the different political and social sectors to work together: “From this space we open the doors to those who do not think like us, to other political forces. Today is the time to join forces. I call on the Peruvian people, all the political class without distinction, the unions, professional associations, university students, the working class, teachers, all the Peruvian people, so that we make the most immediate effort in the framework of the broadest unity to put an end to these shortcomings that the Peruvian people have ”.

At Congress

As Castillo calls for unity, the vanquished Keiko Fujimori and its allies, where the extreme right shows the way, maintain their speech of coup d’etat which denies any legitimacy to the election of the new president, alleging without proof a non-existent electoral fraud. Monday will be a key day in the clash between the democratically elected government and the far-right coup. The leadership of the unicameral 130-seat Congress will be challenged.

In a Parliament fragmented into ten benches, we do not know what will happen on Monday. Until Saturday, neither of the two blocs had the necessary votes to take the presidency of the Legislative Assembly. The left-wing ruling bloc has 42 votes: 37 from the ruling Peru Libre party and five of its allies from the progressive coalition Together for Peru. According to various versions, for the election of the board of directors of the Congress, nine other votes from center and center-right groups have already been added. The ruling party has not made public who its candidate for the presidency of Congress will be. On the other side, the far-right bloc adds 43 votes: 24 from Fujimorismo, 12 from the fascists of the Popular Renovation (RP) and seven from another right-wing group. His candidate for the presidency of Congress is retired Admiral Jorge Montoya of the RP, who called for the election to be quashed and called for military intervention to prevent Castillo from assuming the presidency.

The two blocks are trading against the hour with three benches that have not been defined to get the votes they lack. These three groups, which total 36 seats, move between the center-right and the right. The left has complicated things. In the midst of this conflict, the center-right Popular Action, which has 16 lawmakers, seeks to become a third alternative and to chair Congress.

If the putschist right manages to take the presidency of the Legislative Assembly, a complicated scenario will open up for the stability of the Castillo government.