Lima (EFE) in the last two days in the streets during demonstrations in which two people died.
“I have decided to take the initiative to reach an agreement with Congress to advance the general elections to April 2024. In the coming days, I will submit to Congress a bill to advance the elections,” Boluarte said in a speech.
The Peruvian president took office last Wednesday to replace Pedro Castillo, who was sacked by Congress after ordering the dissolution of parliament, announcing the formation of an emergency executive, which was to rule by decree, convene a constituent assembly and reorganize Justice.
In this sense, he said that he took the decision to bring forward the elections and not to end his mandate in July 2026, as initially planned, interpreting “in the broadest way the will of the citizens and, therefore, with the responsibility that this implies exercise of government.
Boluarte specified that the approval of this law implies constitutional reforms “which should be approved according to the fastest procedure”.
“In the period from the present time until the date of the early legislative elections, my government will also favor the agreement in the Congress of the Republic of a law for the reform of the political system which will allow (…) to have a more efficient, transparent and participatory democratic government system,” he said.
With this reform, he hopes that “all practices of corruption and with political parties legitimized by citizen participation” will be eliminated.
“I call on all the political forces of the country, regions and provinces, the authorities, civil society and the Peruvian people to participate in this process so that a wave of democratic will and national responsibility guides us and guides us, to establish the legal, institutional and democratic foundations of a united, free and socially just Peru,” he concluded.
Emergency state
Boluarte also declared a state of emergency on Monday “in areas of strong social conflict”, in which demonstrations demanding his resignation and the advancement of elections were reproduced with greater force and in which two people died.
“I announce the declaration of a state of emergency in areas of high social conflict. I inform you that I have given instructions so that control of internal order can be restored peacefully, without infringing the rights fundamentals of citizens,” he said in a speech, minutes after midnight, in which he did not specify which areas he was referring to.
Two demonstrators died this Sunday in the town of Andahuaylas, in the southern Andean region of Apurimac, while participating in a demonstration for the early elections and the resignation of Boluarte.
The first deceased was a 15-year-old teenager and identified by the initials DAQ, while the second was identified as Becam Romario Quispe Garfias, 18.
“I deeply regret the death of our compatriots in Andahuaylas, Apurímac, my land. I express my sincere condolences to their loved ones,” Boluarte said.
This Sunday, the Peruvian Corporation of Airports and Commercial Aviation (Corpac) announced the closure of Andahuaylas airport due to unrest and the burning of part of its facilities by protesters.
Through a press release shared by the Ministry of Transport and Communications, Corpac explained that the terminal “has been under attack and acts of vandalism” since Saturday afternoon, which have affected the runway and essential equipment to ensure the air navigation service.
Likewise, “they set fire to the transmitter room, the fuel room” and surrounded the terminal, where 50 members of the National Police and Corpac workers are located, the official source added.
The protests, which have been replicated in other parts of the country, are calling for snap elections and the resignation of Boluarte, who took office last Wednesday after Congress impeached his predecessor Pedro Castillo, who ordered the dissolution of Congress, announced that it would form an emergency executive, rule by decree, convene a constituent assembly, and reorganize the judiciary.
Besides Andahuaylas, the other biggest demonstration was in the municipality of Chala, in the southern region of Arequipa, where, according to the police, some 2,000 people blocked traffic on the Panamericana Sur highway.
In the center of Lima, hundreds of people also organized clashes around the Congress.