The Congress of the Republic of Peru has rejected this Friday the constitutional reform to bring forward the presidential elections to April 2024, as proposed this week by the head of state, Dina Boluarte.
The constitutional reform was aimed at bringing forward the general elections to December 2023, and shortening the presidential and parliamentary mandates to April 30 of the following year.
The measure only received the support of 49 congressmen, while another 33 were against and 25 abstained, falling far short of the numbers required to push through a constitutional reform, according to RPP radio station.
Boluarte announced over the weekend a proposal for the electoral advance as a response to the social protests that have been shaking the country for ten days now, after former president Pedro Castillo was removed from office and arrested.
Among the demands formulated in the protests – in which a score of civilians have already lost their lives – was the calling of new elections and the departure of Boluarte from the presidency.
The one who until last week was Castillo’s ‘number two’ assumed the Presidency after the Congress of the Republic ousted the President after his attempt to dissolve the Parliament and declare a Government of exception; a maneuver which the new Executive called a «coup d’état».
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
