Peru: Peru’s new president offered lawmakers a plan to bring elections forward by two years on Monday, after the ouster of her predecessor last week sparked protests that have left at least six dead.
President Dina Boluarte, previously the vice president, was sworn in last week after former President Pedro Castillo was removed by Congress and arrested for trying to dissolve the legislature while preventing an impeachment vote against him.
“I have decided to present a bill to reach an agreement with Congress to bring forward the general elections to April 2024,” Boluarte, 60, said in a speech to the nation. Elections were previously scheduled for 2026.
“The homeland is experiencing difficult times,” added Boluarte.
The new leader, Peru’s sixth president in the past five years, said she would present the bill in “coming days” after two teenagers were killed on Sunday and at least one more on Monday in the southern area of Arequipa, during protests demanding the country hold general elections following Castillo’s ouster.
In a handwritten letter posted later on Monday to his Twitter page, Castillo called Boluarte’s early election pledge a “dirty game” and derided her as an “usurper.”
He asserted that he is the humiliated victim of a kidnapping and called for an immediate assembly to rewrite the nation’s constitution.
Castillo also announced he would not resign as president, even though he was lawfully removed from power by lawmakers last Wednesday just hours after his attempted power grab.
Local authorities in Apurimac said a 16-year-old had died from a gunshot wound, and two more 18-year-olds had died in Andahuaylas province. Another death had been reported earlier Monday in Arequipa, and two teenagers were killed on Sunday.
