Peru’s president renews his call for elections this year to end the protests | Peru

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Peruvian President Dina Boulwart has made a renewed appeal to Congress for snap elections as a way to end weeks of deadly protests, warning she will seek constitutional reform to hold a vote.

The South American country has been embroiled in a political crisis with almost daily protests since December 7, when then-President Pedro Castillo was arrested after trying to dissolve Congress and rule by decree.

Over the course of seven weeks of demonstrations, 48 ​​people were killed in clashes between security forces and protesters, according to the Peruvian Ombudsman’s Office.

Last month, lawmakers moved the date of elections scheduled for 2026 to April 2024, but with no sign of the protests abating, Boulwart asked for them to be held this year. On Friday, she urged Congress to increase the vote.

However, in a plenary session that ended early Saturday, Congress rejected the proposal, by 45 votes in favor, 65 against, with two abstentions.

The Legislative Council is scheduled to meet on Monday to discuss the timetable for the elections.

Polwart said that if lawmakers refuse to advance the vote, she will propose a constitutional reform so that the first round of elections can be held in October and the run-off in December.

The demonstrators are calling for immediate elections, as well as Boulwart’s dismissal, the dissolution of Congress and a new constitution.

“No one has any interest in clinging to power,” Boulwart said on Friday. “If I am here it is because I have fulfilled my constitutional responsibility.”

Masked demonstrators wearing shields, stones and shards of cement on Saturday clashed with police in a haze with tear gas as Lima became the scene of clashes and the city’s first death from the protests was recorded.

Over recent weeks, Castillo’s supporters have blocked highways, causing shortages of food, fuel, and other essential supplies.

The unrest comes mainly from poor, rural indigenous people from southern Peru who identify Castillo – who are indigenous and from the same region – as one of whom they will fight to eradicate the poverty, racism and inequality that they suffer from.

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