On March 11, Salvador del Solar was sworn in as president of the Council of Ministers after César Villanueva resigned as prime minister. President Vizcarra also took the oath of office to the Ministerial Cabinet, which from now on will be led by del Solar. Eight ministries have been reshuffled. Among the ministers who remain in office are Carlos Oliva (Economy and Finance) and Edgar Vazquez (Foreign Trade). In addition, del Solar announced that the new administration will apply the Anti-circumvention Rule, incorporated into the Tax Code in 2012, as a legal mechanism to allow the Peruvian state to identify and collect taxes that companies evade or hide in tax havens.   

Salvador del Solar will replace the resigning César Villanueva, who chose to leave the Executive “for personal reasons” after almost a year in office before the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. At 49, del Solar has experience in the Executive branch; he was Minister of Culture during the government of Pedro Pablo Kuczynski between 2016 and 2017, until his resignation over objections to the the humanitarian pardon issued to Alberto Fujimori. In his first public speech, when consulted by the Anti-circumvention Rule published in 2012, the new prime minister said that although there are details that must be adjusted by the Executive, the implementation of the law will advance, since “it is not only large companies that need to be taxed”.

In addition, together with the new president of the Council, he swore in the new Ministerial Cabinet, which saw the renewal of eight of the Executive’s 18 ministries: at the Ministry of Housing, Congressman Carlos Bruce was appointed; at the Ministry of Development and Social Inclusion, Paola Bustamante; and at the Ministry of Education, Flor Pablo. The rest of the ministers remained in office. Amid these changes, Fuerza Popular (opposition party) reaffirmed the position of its party as disposed to “build bridges with the Executive” through dialogue and consensus.
César Villanueva’s resignation comes amid a slight drop in public support for President Vizcarra, now at 58%, and amid discontent from the ruling party at not seeing the party’s original political agenda represented in the president’s administration. It is hoped that with the renewal of the Executive, the ruling party will be able to define new lines of joint action to implement its policies, strengthening dialogue with the opposition.