The Government of Peru formalized on Monday before Congress a bill that proposes the advance of the general elections in the country for April 2024, which was delivered with the signatures of President Dina Boluarte and her Prime Minister, Pedro Angulo, in the midst of the serious political and social crisis facing the Andean country.
“The current context of political and social crisis is no less different than the situations that motivated in the past the formulation of a proposal that implies the advance of the general elections for the reduction of mandate,” the project maintains in its foundations.
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The norm, which was already announced by Boluarte after midnight on Monday, proposes a “constitutional reform, which modifies the mandate of the President of the Republic, of the congressmen and representatives before the Andean Parliament, and establishes the advance of general elections for the year 2024 “.
His formal delivery was confirmed on Monday by the Minister of Defense, Alberto Otárola, during a presentation before the plenary session of Congress to which he went together with the Minister of the Interior and the Prime Minister to give the details of the violent demonstrations that are reproduced in the interior of the country since Sunday.
The bill incorporates a transitory provision that indicates that, given its exceptional nature, since the current mandate must end in July 2026, “the deadlines established in articles 90 and 112 of the Peruvian Constitution, which establish a permanence in their positions for five years, are not applicable” for the current elected authorities.
It details that the proposal for the elections to be in April 2024 is “linked to the closure of the electoral roll”, which must be carried out a year before, the same deadline in which the laws establish to make legal reforms.
It indicates that this period “should also serve to approve, if applicable, the constitutional reforms referring to the Peruvian political regime” and emphasizes that “it is urgent to make democratic and constitutional changes in Congress, fundamentally obeying the feeling of the citizenry.”
Initiative in the hands of Congress
The bill also recalls that an initiative of this type must be approved “by an absolute majority of the legal number” of parliamentarians and ratified by referendum, although this can be omitted if it receives the favorable vote in two successive ordinary legislatures.
He adds that, in that case, the electoral bodies must adapt the electoral schedule “in accordance with current regulations” which, he said, indicates that the calls for general elections “could not be equal to or greater than the 270 days established by the Peruvian regulatory framework.”
When announcing this proposal during the early hours of Monday, Boluarte said he made the decision not to finish his term in July 2026 by interpreting “in the broadest way the will of the citizens and, consequently, with the responsibility implied by the exercise” of the Government.
He also clarified that the approval of this law implies constitutional reforms “that should be approved for the most expeditious procedure,” with the aim of leaving aside “all the practice of corruption and with political parties legitimized by citizen participation.”
The President took office last Wednesday replacing Pedro Castillo, who was dismissed by Congress after he dictated the dissolution of Parliament, announced the formation of an emergency executive, which was going to govern by decree, convene a constituent assembly and reorganize the justice system.
That political crisis led to the outbreak of social protests in the interior of the country, especially in the south, where there have been three deaths so far, while groups of demonstrators demand the resignation of Boluarte, the closure of Congress and the call for new elections.
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