RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Peru’s new government is ready to take office on July 28 after the official delivery of credentials to President-elect Pedro Castillo and vice-president Dina Boluarte, while 130 new congressmembers were sworn in at a private ceremony.
The leftist Castillo, a 51-year-old rural teacher and trade unionist who defeated right-wing Keiko Fujimori in the presidential runoff, received this Friday the credentials of head of state for the 2021-2026 term in a ceremony organized by the National Jury of Elections (JNE).
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“For me, this is an honor that I swear not to disappoint,” said an excited Castillo at the moment of receiving the documents granted by the president of the JNE, José Luis Salas, who also gave credentials to Vice President Boluarte.
RESPECT FOR LEGALITY
In his subsequent speech, Castillo greeted “the Peruvian people for the trust placed” in him and his party, Peru Libre, and thanked “the brave effort of the National Jury of Elections” to hold the presidential elections.
He assured that this July 28, he will assume the presidency “to fulfill the role within the framework of governability, respecting the institutional framework” and the Constitution, which, he said, “should be left to the Peruvians to evaluate and be determined by the people.”
“We are here to tell you that we are not going to let Peru down, but we are also going to call on suitable and committed people, but with loyalty,” he said.
NEITHER CHAVISTA NOR COMMUNIST
The president-elect, whom Fujimori and the Peruvian right-wing forces accuse of being “communist” and “chavist”, also rejected “categorically” the possibility of wanting to implement in his country a government with “models from other countries”.
“We are not Chavistas, we are not extremists and least of all communists”, Castillo emphasized before assuring that his regime will “fight terrorism wherever it comes from.”
After that, he called for “the broadest unity” and summoned all his compatriots, including his political adversaries, to contribute to implementing “the true Peruvian model thinking in its diversity, in its culture.”
“I am going to sweat working and fighting for these people so that we all have the same opportunities, so that we all have to aim so that the new generations, the new children, first have the same hopes,” he said.
DEFENSE OF THE ELECTIONS
During the ceremony, the president of the JNE defended the legality and transparency of the electoral process in the face of criticism and questioning from Fujimori and her political allies.
Castillo’s proclamation as the winner of the presidential runoff came last Monday (19), a month and a half after the elections, in the face of a barrage of legal challenges and appeals presented by his electoral rival in an attempt to prevent her defeat.
“Unfortunately, the discourse of fear and deceit has been installed in some parts of the population, disseminated in a coordinated and effective way, and this has damaged the institutionality of the country,” he said.
He assured, however, that the electoral bodies have “resisted and responded in the best and only way we can: with our work.”
CONGRESS MEMBERS ARE SWORN IN
During the morning of this Friday, the 130 new congressmembers elected in the general elections of last April 11 were also sworn in, in a ceremony held in private because of the restrictions due to the Covid-19 epidemic.
The meeting was led by the Preparatory Board presided by legislator Bernardo Quito, from the Peru Libre party, and integrated by the oldest congressman, Enrique Wong (79), from the Podemos party, and the youngest, Rosangella Barbarán (26), from the pro-Fujimori Fuerza Popular party.
From the beginning of activities, it was evident that the issue of confrontation and debate will be Castillo’s proposal to call for a Constituent Assembly to change the Constitution promulgated in 1993 by former president Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000).
In this sense, the president of the Preparatory Board and the majority of the 37 legislators of Peru Libre swore to the office for a “new Constitution of all bloodlines”, as Quito declared.
For its part, the pro-Fujimori Fuerza Popular bench, which has 24 representatives, clarifies that it will defend the validity of the Constitution promulgated by Fujimori, who is serving 25 years in prison for crimes against humanity.
At the end of the ceremony, it was announced that the new board of directors of the Congress for the period 2021-2022 would be elected this Monday and, on the same day, the five new Peruvian representatives to the Andean Parliament will be sworn in.