The Organization of American States (OAS) has called for dialogue among political actors in Peru following the renewal of the executive branch by President Pedro Castillo after the failure of a question of confidence in the Andean Parliament.
The High Level Group of the organization that visited Peru this week has expressed its willingness to help the public authorities and civil society to dialogue in search of an agreement that will allow them to ensure democratic governance, according to a statement released by the OAS.
«The High Level Group to analyze the situation in Peru once again calls on the actors of the branches of government, other public authorities, groups and civil society in general, to initiate a process of inclusive dialogue in order to preserve democratic institutions, representative democracy and social peace, for the benefit of the Peruvian people,» the letter states.
The OAS has assured that it «respects the decisions of all State institutions» and has encouraged the parties to demonstrate «their willingness to conciliate, to listen to each other and to act with a sense of State, for the benefit of the Peruvian citizens».
The words of the Inter-American organization come a day after the resignation of the hitherto Prime Minister of Peru, Anibal Torres, and the subsequent total renewal of the cabinet by the head of state, Pedro Castillo.
The renewal of the Council of Ministers comes after the refusal of the Congress to support Torres’ proposal 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.
