Peru: opposition to Pedro Castillo will control Congress | Denies a difficult relationship between the executive and the legislature

From Lima

Right-wing opposition to President-elect Pedro Castillo has taken over Congress. He did so on Monday during a heated election, in which, with an abusive interpretation of the regulations that revealed undemocratic practices, the majority right-wing bloc prevented the ruling party from participating. With this veto, the election for the head of the unicameral 130-seat parliament has been reduced to two right-wing candidates, where six benches are grouped, going from the center right to the extreme right. Groups of this bloc, like Fujimorismo and others, deny without argument the legitimacy of Castillo’s electoral victory and have opted for the coup. It is a first political defeat for the rural teacher who assumes the presidency of the country this Wednesday. What happened in this first session of the new Congress heralds a difficult and complicated relationship between the next president of the left and a parliament controlled by the right, with risks to the stability of the country.

Disputed vote

Three lists had been presented to preside over the Congress, divided into ten benches, where no one has a majority. The main seat is that of the ruling Peru Libre party, with 37 legislators, far from the majority. The second group is Fujimori, with 24 representatives. Free Peru, seeking support, had forged alliances by turning to the center and center-right and handed over the candidacy for the presidency of the Congress to the center-right group Somos Perú, remaining in the first vice-presidency . The other two vice-presidencies included candidates from the progressive coalition Juntos por el Perú and the centrist Partido Morado. The Right argued that the Purple Party could not make the list because it only had three representatives and the regulations require five to form a bench and run. However, the Morado Party and Somos Perú had gathered in a single bench, which left the supposed limitation set by the regulation without a floor, the validity of which for this election was questioned, but which was unknown to the right and vetoed the entire list. He did so with 79 votes. Pro-government congressmen denounce the undemocratic practice of the right-wing majority by preventing it from running for the presidency of Congress and they warned that this would herald an authoritarian and obstructionist behavior of this majority that would affect governance.

Previous calculations indicated that the right would win the votes to win the presidency of Congress, but it did not want to take any chances in a secret ballot and at the same time put on a show of force by dismissing the official candidate from the race. before the elections. In this contested election, lawmaker María del Carmen Alva, of the center-right Popular Action Party, was elected president of the Congress. with 69 votes. He won with the support of the right and a far right sector like Fujimori. The other candidate, retired Admiral Jorge Montoya of the Fascist Popular Renovation Party (RP), who called for a coup to prevent Castillo from assuming the presidency, got just 10 votes , all from his own party. There were 50 blank votes, from the ruling party and its allies who were barred from participating. A member of Congress was not present. Fujimorism, very close to the fascists of the PR and which had a close ally of the coup leader Montoya to seek to delegitimize the triumph of Castillo with false allegations of electoral fraud, withdrew the support of the admiral to give it to Alva, who had added the support of other groups, to prevent the white votes of the ruling coalition from exceeding those obtained by the legislator.

Hostile benches

This vote marks the ground, which leans to the right, in Parliament with which the Castillo government will have to come to terms. Difficult scenario that awaits the next president, who will have difficulty in having his proposals for change approved in an opposition Congress, with openly hostile groups and putschists. Parliament has the power to remove the head of state with the ambiguous figure of “permanent moral incapacity”, which due to its magnitude can be invoked with any excuse if there are enough votes. The outgoing Congress did so to remove former President Martín Vizcarra from power in 2019. The right wing does not have the 87 votes necessary to approve the impeachment of the president, but this Monday’s vote reveals that it is close. , and could add more support if a crisis scenario opens up, which is what the right is betting on.

In her first speech as President of Congress, Alva called for unity and strengthening democracy, said she was ready to work with the government and avoid a power struggle, but the way she was chosen, depriving her main opponent of the right to run, and her hardline allies say otherwise.

As the right took control of Congress, VSAstillo has held meetings with his aides to define his ministerial cabinet, which, two days after assuming the presidency, is still unknown.. A situation that fuels uncertainty.

Evo Morales, present

The former Bolivian president, Evo Morales was the first international figure to appear at Castillo’s swearing-in ceremony. He did so on Monday, crossing the border of the highlands between Bolivia and Peru by land. At the border post, he declared that the Castillo government, which he calls “brother”, is joining “the struggle for the democratic liberation of the peoples of Latin America”. The president of Argentina, Alberto Fernández, is one of the international authorities and personalities who, this Wednesday, will be sworn in as president of the teacher and union leader Pedro Castillo.