Peru’s parliament on Wednesday again rejected a proposal to postpone elections scheduled for 2024 to December 2023 as widespread protests and riots continue to shake the country, which have killed at least 48 people since December 7.

According to the final count, 68 members of Congress voted against, 54 in favor, and two abstained after a five-hour session.

“The proposal to revise the constitution did not get the required number of votes,” summed up the speaker of parliament, José Williams.

Left deputies greeted the result with applause, cheers and cheers.

The proposal was made by the Fuerza Popular (Power of the People, a right-wing populist faction of the Fujimori family) and was supported by President Dina Boluarte, who was elected vice president as the candidate of the Radical Party. left.

Ms. Bulwart and the right have proposed holding elections scheduled for April 2024 at the end of the year in the hope that this will put an end to mass mobilization.

For the third time since December, Peru’s parliament has refused to approve elections in 2023. He had already turned down the offer on Saturday. After a seven-hour meeting on Monday, the vote was delayed until Tuesday and then Wednesday.

The protesters demand the resignation of President Boulevard, the dissolution of the Congress, which is not trusted by public opinion, the immediate calling of parliamentary and presidential elections and the convening of a Constituent Assembly.

“Time bomb”

A deep political and social crisis in the Latin American country erupted following the removal, arrest and pre-trial detention on December 7 of leftist ex-president Pedro Castillo, who was accused of attempting a “coup d’état” by announcing that he would dissolve Congress as it prepared to remove him from authorities. He was replaced by then Vice President Ms Boluarte, who is called a “traitor” by protesters.

“This is an absolute divorce of the political class and citizens. It’s a ticking time bomb, the worst scenario the country can live with, with a president who won’t resign and a parliament that wants to keep doing nothing,” Alonso Cárdenas, professor of political science at Antonio Ruiz de Montoya University, told File.

On Sunday, Ms. Bulvarte stepped up pressure on parliament, claiming “historic responsibility.”

“Vote for Peru, for the country, speed up the elections by determining that they will be held in 2023, and with the greatest responsibility let’s say to all of Peru that we will all leave,” she said during her address to the nation.

The Peruvian Congress is characterized as fragmented, with more than ten parties apart from independent ones. No party has an absolute majority of seats, and therefore negotiations and alliances are required at every vote.

The left, which voted against holding elections in 2023, wants any new vote to be held at the same time as a referendum on a new constitution. This is a contentious issue in Congress. Its members meet again today to review it.

Demonstrations and blockades of roads continue in various parts of the country. In the evening, a new mobilization was to take place in the capital.

In the central region of Junin in the Andes, dozens of residents blocked the main highway and streets in the city of Huancayo, about 300 kilometers from Lima.

In the Puno region (southeast), in the rain, dozens of farmers and transport workers took part in street mobilization in Juliaca.

A copper mine in Las Babas, owned by Chinese conglomerate MMG, suspended operations on Wednesday due to road closures.

The Las Babas mine, located at an altitude of 4,000 meters, accounts for 15% of Peru’s copper production, the world’s second largest copper producer after Chile. Copper production corresponds to 1% of GDP.

With almost 400,000 tons of copper, this Latin American country provides 2% of the world’s copper production.

Source: APE-MPE, Reuters.