In Peru, Congress and the Presidency, will they achieve early elections?
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(CNN Spanish) --
The discussion about the possibility of calling early elections in Peru after the dismissal of Pedro Castillo -after his attempt to dissolve Congress- and the assumption of Dina Boluarte is already on the table.
Will it happen?
Here, an explanation of what the president has said and what the law provides.
The next general elections in Peru —which has a history of political instability and where the crisis worsened on Wednesday after the events that led to the arrest of Castillo— are scheduled for 2026. However, after the departure of the elected president in 2021, the possibility that Boluarte advances the process is on the lips of multiple actors.
What did Dina Boluarte, the new president, say about the possibility of early elections?
In his first press conference after assuming the Presidency, Boluarte was asked if he would do it.
The president gave a not too specific answer, from which it can be deduced that it is something that she will analyze "later."
"I know that there are some voices that indicate early elections and that democratically is respectable. I think that the assumption of the Presidency on this occasion is a bit of redirecting what needs to be done with the country. Later, in coordination with all the organizations , we will be looking at better alternatives to reorient the destinations of the country," he said exactly.
In his first speech before Congress after being sworn in, Boluarte had called on Wednesday for a "political truce to install a government of national unity" and had called for a "broad process of dialogue between all political forces represented or not in Congress".
"What I am requesting is a deadline, valuable time to rescue our country from corruption and misrule," he argued.
What is the profile of the new president of Peru Dina Boluarte?
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Truce
In an interview with the CNN en Español program Conclusions, Congressman Edward Malaga, who promoted the third of former President Castillo's vacancy motions, also spoke on Wednesday night about the possibility of an advance of the elections and like Boluarte he used a specific term for this moment: truce.
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"We have to give the country a truce, we have to restore confidence, peace and security to the citizens that the two powers are capable of reaching minimum political agreements for governability, a broad-based cabinet, and a short term after which we will be able to have these early general elections," he said when asked if Boluarte would be available to advance the process originally planned for 2026.
To call elections, the Constitution would have to be modified.
There are two factors to take into account to understand the scenario of possible early elections: President Boluarte took office with full powers and is not obliged or has the constitutional power to call elections.
And, if she wants to do it, then a temporary reform of the magna carta will be needed.
1. Dina Boluarte is not obliged to call elections in Peru and does not have the constitutional powers to do so
Boluarte took office with "full powers and must complete his term by 2026" since "he does not have a legal mandate or constitutional power to call elections," constitutional lawyer Aníbal Quiroga explained to CNN en Español.
This has to do with how he came to power.
The Peruvian magna carta establishes that in the elections a president and two vice presidents are chosen.
In the event that the president cannot continue in his position for the reasons established by the norm, it is up to the first vice president to assume and complete the original term.
If he could not, then he must take the second position (in Peru right now there was only one vice president because one of the vice presidents of Castillo's original board was eliminated by an election jury, Quiroga explained).
In the event that none of these people could continue in office, then the president of Congress would temporarily assume office and he would indeed be "forced to call elections within a period of no more than one year" precisely because his mandate would be transitory.
But this is not the situation of Boluarte, his mandate, from the point of view of the Constitution, is not transitory.
This is how Dina Boluarte was sworn in as president of Peru 1:40
2. To call early elections in Peru, a temporary constitutional reform with the support of a large majority is necessary
If you wanted to call early elections, you had to reform the Constitution and add a final and transitory rule that allows "the early conclusion of the mandate of the people who were elected in 2021 for five years and the advancement of the general elections" both for president and of Congress, expressed for his part to CNN En Español José Tello, lawyer, political analyst and professor at the University of Lima.
This temporary provision must be approved in Congress with a majority of 87 votes (out of a total of 130) during two consecutive legislatures.
There is a precedent from the year 2000, during the third and "highly questioned" government of Alberto Fujimori, explained Tello.
What deadlines are handled?
Peruvian electoral law says that elections are called within 270 days, Tello said.
"We could easily have an election by 2023" if the call is decided, he analyzed, although he does consider it difficult for a change of command to be reached on July 28, the date on which new governments historically take office in Peru.
With information from Carolina Melo, Fernando del Rincón and Ángela Reyes Haczek from CNN en Español.