PERU

On March 9, the plenary of the Peruvian Congress granted the vote of confidence to the ministerial cabinet presided by Aníbal Torres. The investiture was admitted with 64 votes in favor, 58 against and two abstentions. In this way, the Council of Ministers appointed by Pedro Castillo receives the support of the legislature for the development of the government’s general policy and the main measures required for its administration. Meanwhile, Torres asserted that the Executive will listen and make any corrections that need to be made, and he also called for consensus to be generated for the well-being of the country.

During his presentation, the prime minister explained to the congressmen that the government is drafting a bill to modify the current State Contracting Law so that no public works are paralysed. He asked Congress to work together to amend the judicial system. In turn, the Minister of Economy, Óscar Graham, said that there is an urgent need to promote a competitiveness agenda to face the challenges of today’s global market.

Results of the vote of confidence showed which political parties in Congress support and reject, in addition to the Council of Ministers, Castillo’s administration. In this case, Fuerza Popular, Avanza País, Renovación Popular and the non-grouped parties expressed their rejection of the cabinet. While Perú Libre, Perú Democrático and Juntos por el Perú voted in favor. The remaining benches, Alianza para el Progreso, Acción Popular, Podemos Perú and Somos Perú, did not reach a consensus as a bloc and had split votes.

The vote of confidence is a political instrument for the premier and ministers to continue in office. It is worth mentioning that this is the third time that the Congress has approved the confidence of a cabinet under the mandate of President Pedro Castillo. In the first cabinet led by Guido Bellido, Congress granted him confidence with 73 votes in favor and 50 against. While Mirtha Vásquez obtained a vote of 68 in favor and 56 against.