TheEconomistOctober 5th 2019 271E
ver since he became president in
March 2018, Martín Vizcarra has been at
war with Peru’s congress. This week, on
September 30th, their rocky relationship
came to a farcical turning point. Mr Viz-
carra dissolved congress. The legislature
struck back by suspending him from office
and choosing the vice-president, Mercedes
Aráoz, to replace him. But this looked more
like a gesture of defiance than a well-
judged counterattack. Ms Aráoz quit with-
in 36 hours. Peru now looks headed to-
wards congressional elections in January.
What is not clear is whether this constitu-
tional crackup will break the political dead-
lock or damage Peru’s democracy.
Peruvians cannot help but be reminded
of the last time congress was closed down,
in 1992 by President Alberto Fujimori. His
“self-coup” led to more than eight years of
authoritarian and often brutal rule. He is
now serving a 25-year sentence in a Peruvi-
an jail for human-rights abuses.
Although Mr Vizcarra’s disbanding of
congress is legally questionable, he has notcarried out a coup. Unlike Mr Fujimori he
has not sent tanks into the streets or dis-
missed the supreme court. If congress dis-
bands, as now looks likely, a 27-member
“permanent committee” will remain to act
as a check on him. Most Peruvians share Mr
Vizcarra’s view that the legislature is cor-
rupt, obstructive and overdue for dissolu-
tion. Nearly 90% disapprove of it.
The confrontation between powers pre-
dates Mr Vizcarra’s promotion to the presi-
dency. It began with the general election of
2016, when Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, a for-
mer investment banker, became president.
He narrowly defeated Keiko Fujimori, Al-
berto’s daughter, but her Popular Force
party (fp) won a majority in congress. fpand its allies sought to paralyse Mr Kuczyn-
ski’s government.
Corruption allegations have sidelined
both protagonists. Ms Fujimori is in prison
while she is investigated on suspicion of
receiving undeclared campaign donations
from Odebrecht, a Brazilian construction
company that bribed politicians across Lat-
in America. Mr Kuczynski is under house
arrest while prosecutors investigate claims
that he had corrupt dealings with the firm
when he was finance minister. He resigned
as president under threat of impeachment.
Mr Vizcarra, then one of two vice-presi-
dents and Peru’s ambassador to Canada,
took over.
His arrival sharpened the conflict and
changed its nature. A former governor of
the southern department of Moquegua,
proud of his provincial roots, Mr Vizcarra
entered office determined to reform poli-
tics and combat the corruption that has
discredited the governing class. All four of
his immediate predecessors have been ac-
cused of corrupt dealings with Odebrecht.
What did not change was congress’s de-
termination to thwart the president. Mr
Vizcarra used drastic measures to push
through his policies. He held a referendum
last year on a package of anti-corruption
measures, which congress then grudgingly
enacted. Congress has since blocked or di-
luted proposals to improve the quality of
Peru’s party system. Many of the country’s
two-dozen parties exist just to sell their in-PeruThe president, and the people,
against the parliament
LIMA
Martín Vizcarra has won his duel with congressThe Americas
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