[ad_1]
The 76-year-old engineer will have to govern the Andean country until July 28, 2021. He has ratified new elections for April 11 next year.
Centrist Francisco Sagasti was sworn in on Tuesday 17-N as Peru’s new president and immediately apologized for the “forgiveness” of the families of two young men killed in protests by outraged citizens who brought down his short-lived predecessor.
“I swear on the country and on all Peruvians that I will hold the office of president,” said the 76-year-old engineer in plenary session of Congress, who will have to govern until July 28, 2021.
He then asked for “forgiveness in the name of the state” from the families of the two demonstrators killed on Saturday 14-N, apparently at the hands of the police, in the protests against his predecessor, Manuel Merino.
“We can’t bring these young people back to life,” said Inti Sotelo’s new president, 24, and Jack Pintado, 22, whose parents attended the session of Congress.
The new president has promised that the general elections of 11 April 2021, from which his successor will emerge, will be held “without setbacks” and will be “absolutely clean”.
He also said he will do everything possible “to reduce the contagion of the pandemic, but without affecting the economy”, which is in recession after a mandatory national confinement of more than 100 days.
Third president
Sagasti was elected the new head of Congress on Monday in a vote in which he was the only candidate, which automatically made him the new president of Peru with the challenge of ending the political crisis.
He is the third to hold the presidency in eight days, a reflection of the institutional weakness of the former Spanish viceroyalty.
“It’s a great choice for Francisco Sagasti as president,” political analyst Augusto Álvarez Rodrich told AFP. “His election helps build a moment of political and economic stability, he has good prospects,” he added.
The crisis was unleashed on November 9 by Congress itself, when it dismissed popular president Martín Vizcarra (center-right) with a quick impeachment, on suspicion of corruption when he was governor in 2014.
The complaint against Vizcarra is being investigated by the prosecutor’s office and justice has forbidden him from leaving Peru for 18 months.
The next day he took the reins of the Merino country, which was at the head of Parliament and is also center-right, but thousands of indignant citizens, especially young people, took to the streets to protest against what they called a “coup.”
The protests, which lasted five days, were violently repressed by the police, leaving two dead and more than one hundred injured.
The Centrist Purple Party of Sagasti caucus was the only one that voted en bloc against the removal of Vizcarra. This paved the way for the leadership of the new transitional government, which will lead the country until July 28, 2021, the bicentenary of Peru’s independence.
United States Message
The United States is ready to work with Sagasti “and support Peruvians in preparing for democratic transition” in the 2021 elections, according to Undersecretary of State for the Western Hemisphere, Michael Kozak.
“We continue to support democratic governance, human rights, transparency and prosperity” of Peru, Kozak tweeted.
Meanwhile, Chilean Foreign Minister Andrés Allamand stressed that Sagasti has “strong political support” to rule.
Sagasti’s rise to power was greeted with relief by thousands of Peruvians who had protested against Merino.
Source link
