On Tuesday morning, the Peruvian Congress approved to reconsider the bill to advance general elections that had been sent to them by President Dina Boluarte. The bill received 94 votes in favour, 25 votes against, and 5 abstentions.
This decision indicates that lawmakers will reassess the possibility of moving the elections up to December 2023, which is something they had previously opposed on the grounds that doing so would mean that they would lose their seats.
To anticipate the general elections in a meaningful way, Boluarte's bill needs the support of at least 87 lawmakers within the next few hours.
A few minutes after the outcome of the vote in Congress was made public, the President of the National Elections Board, Jorge Luis Salas, confirmed that his organisation was capable of organising an electoral process by the end of the year 2023.
In a video that was shared across social networks, he made the following statement: "We are in a position to carry out and complete the elections that replace those who are currently holding the country's highest magistracies."
Since the 7th of December, Peru has been the site of widespread demonstrations, which have been violently put down by the government's security forces. This occurred as a direct result of Pedro Castillo being removed from office by Congress. Castillo had attempted to set up an emergency government and remove Congress from power.
However, the proposal by Boluarte to bring forward the elections to December 2023 has not been successful in calming the spirits of the population, which continues to demonstrate in the streets demanding the dissolution of Congress, the release of Pedro Castillo, and the holding of early elections as soon as possible.
