Analysis. “You made a mistake in taking this generation. “ The sentence is insolent, the tone too. They are 16 or 17 years old, sign josimartinezzz, bryana_pastor or raydelcastillo on Instagram, TikTok or YouTube. Until two weeks ago, they were content to publish content on fashion or music. Today their videos are about “Unjust laws”, of “Disgusting Parliament”, of Constitution. It is called the “generation of the bicentenary” (of the independence of Peru, which will be commemorated in 2021), the one that nobody expected, but who, in a burst of civic responsibility, took to the streets to protest against the carelessness of a hated political class.
With three presidents in eight days, huge demonstrations, a violent police crackdown that left two dead and dozens injured, Peru has just experienced a political crisis never seen in twenty years.
Institutional coup
The streak began on November 9, when 105 parliamentarians voted to dismiss President Martin Vizcarra, suspected, without any investigation yet, in a bribe case when he was provincial governor. Applying a controversial constitutional article that authorizes the dismissal of a president for “Permanent moral incapacity”, they declared the presidential chair “vacant” and it was the head of Congress, Manuel Merino, one of the instigators of the impeachment, who occupied it. An institutional coup for many Peruvians.
Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in the first hours after the impeachment, to cries of “Merino resignation! ” Martin Vizcarra was a very popular president for making the fight against corruption his banner – and therefore hated by parliamentarians, half of whom are under various investigations.
The police brutally cracked down on the protests. But the mobilization paid off. Manuel Merino resigned just five days after being appointed. Congress then appointed a new interim president, consensual this time, Francisco Sagasti, of the Morado party, the only one to have voted en bloc against the dismissal of Mr. Vizcarra.
The Peruvian political system is totally flawed. Congress is controlled by real mafias
The crisis is not recent: in the past three years, the country has experienced four presidential impeachment attempts and a dissolution of Congress. Martin Vizcarra was already acting president himself, after the resignation of Pedro Pablo Kuczynski in 2018, accused of corruption. The Peruvian political system is totally flawed. The Congress is controlled by real mafias. “There are no political parties in Peru but electoral franchises, supports Carmen Ilizarbe, professor of political science at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru: organizations compete with each other or form strategic alliances – which fall apart after elections – for votes and seats. “ In fact, 65% of Peruvians do not feel represented by any party.
You have 47.45% of this article to read. The rest is for subscribers only.