By Marco Aquino
LIMA (Reuters) – Peruvian Prime Minister Guido Bellido appeared before the country´s opposition-led Congress on Thursday to ask for a first vote of confidence for the new Cabinet https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/perus-castillo-mulls-cabinet-reshuffle-under-pressure-opposition-2021-08-24 of leftist president Pedro Castillo which many believe lawmakers will refuse to grant.
In a speech before the vote, Bellido outlined the government’s plans to lift Peru out of “one of the most grave political, social, environmental and health crises of recent decades” and appealed to rival parties to set aside their differences to work together for the nation’s well-being.
Castillo took office last month after a deeply divisive battle against right-wing rival Keiko Fujimori. He was declared the winner of the June 6 election by a margin of just 44,000 votes, or a difference of 0.25 percentage point. This week’s vote of confidence is a key test for his presidency https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/change-is-coming-perus-castillo-faces-divided-nation-after-election-battle-2021-07-20.
“I wish to ratify the commitment of President Castillo to develop public policies and actions that herald a new stage in the life of the country where peace, democracy and equal opportunities for all prevail,” said Bellido, promising “important changes in economic and state structures.”
He said Peru will step up efforts to purchase COVID-19 vaccines and asked for legislative powers for the executive on tax matters.
He said the government intends to tap the excess profits of mining companies at times of high international prices of raw materials. Peru is the world’s second-largest copper producer and mining is the engine of the Andean country’s economy.
Among projects the government would push, he added, was a railway running from the Andes to the Pacific to carry passengers and mining goods, to be funded through a public-private alliance with international partners.
Bellido, who is also Cabinet chief, addressed Congress amid calls for his resignation and those of other members of the government who are seen as closest to the most radical wing of the ruling Marxist party Peru Libre, which brought Castillo to power in July.
He faces an investigation of an alleged “apology for terrorism” over old Facebook posts in which he appeared to defend a former rebel from the Shining Path Maoist group. Bellido denies the accusation and no charges have been filed.
Government sources had suggested that Castillo would seek to reshuffle his Cabinet in a bid to stave off its rejection by Congress. The congressional vote on the Cabinet is expected to occur late on Thursday afternoon, according to lawmakers.
CABINET REJECTION?
In the not unlikely event that the Cabinet is rejected by the centre-right coalition that runs Peru’s Congress, the mining country could face a fresh political crisis. Should its lawmakers then reject a second Cabinet drawn up by Castillo, he would then have the option to close Congress. In September 2019, former president Martín Vizcarra closed Congress, setting in motion Peru’s worst political crisis in two decades which culminated last November in the swearing in of three presidents in a week and violent clashes https://www.reuters.com/article/us-peru-politics/dozens-wounded-in-peru-as-protesters-and-police-clash-amid-political-crisis-idUSKBN27T1TX between police and protests that left two dead. As Bellido spoke, dozens of people demonstrated outside both in favour of and against Castillo’s Cabinet, in a sign of the country’s persistent political divide.
(Reporting by Marco Aquino in Lima; Writing by Aislinn Laing; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
