The President of Peru, Pedro Castillo, has sworn in his new Council of Ministers, which will be composed of almost all the ministers of the previous Executive, except for only six changes.
Hours after swearing in Betssy Chávez as the new Prime Minister of Peru after the resignation of Aníbal Torres, Castillo has appointed the heads of the 18 portfolios that will make up his Government, as reported by ‘La República’.
Among the changes, Oliverio Muñoz stands out as new Minister of Energy and Mines, replacing Alessandra Herrera; Eduardo Mora Aznarán at the head of the Ministry of Production, replacing Jorge Prado; or Cinthyia Lindo as Minister of Development and Social Inclusion, whose predecessor was Vice President Dina Boluarte.
Likewise, Heidy Juarez, congresswoman of Podemos Peru, has been sworn in as Minister of Women and Vulnerable Populations; Juan Rodo Altamirano has been sworn in as Minister of Agrarian Development and Irrigation; Silviana Robles, of Peru Libre, as Minister of Culture, as detailed by the Executive in a press release.
The rest of the portfolios will be maintained with the same incumbents, among them César Landa, who will remain at the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Daniel Barragán as Minister of Defense or Willy Huerta as Minister of the Interior.
The renewal of the Council of Ministers comes after the refusal of the Congress to support the proposal of the now former Prime Minister Aníbal Torres to reform the law of referendum calls, with which the Executive intended to repeal Law 31399, a rule that since the beginning of 2022 hinders the calling of a popular vote.
Said measure, enacted by the opposition in Congress, took away the power of the National Jury of Elections (JNE) to submit to referendum transcendental matters for the citizens of Peru, forcing the body to have the voting proposal previously evaluated and approved in Congress.
The head of government had hoped to return to the JNE the authority to call for a referendum without going through the approval of the Parliament, something that the Congressional board rejected outright on Thursday.
«The Board of Directors has agreed by majority to fully reject the question of confidence raised by the President of the Council of Ministers for using prohibited ways to raise a question of confidence, as established by the Constitutional Court,» said the President of Congress, Jose Williams in statements reported by RPP.
The head of the Peruvian Parliament justified the decision by assuring that the proposal made by the country’s Prime Minister, Aníbal Torres, exceeds the constitutional and legal framework because it bypasses the Congress, which would represent «a serious alteration» to the State and the separation of powers.
For this same proposal of the Government, the opposition has filed a constitutional complaint against President Pedro Castillo, the Prime Minister and the ministers of the entire Executive, alleging that they would have violated several articles of the Constitution.
