On 11 August Peru’s congress granted a vote of confidence in President Martín Vizcarra’s chosen Prime Minister Walter Martos, a retired army general, and his cabinet.
Analysis:
Martos won the backing of congress after deputies rejected the previous choice of prime minister, Pedro Cateriano, last week just 19 days after he had been appointed to the position. Martos presented much the same programme as Cateriano but his tone was more conciliatory and he moved the emphasis away from the mining sector and private sector investment to drive Peru’s economic recovery to the priority of overcoming the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
- “My priority, without any doubt, is fighting the pandemic. The strategy will be prevention, comprising containment and mitigation measures, and optimising the readiness of hospitals”, Martos said during a presentation of his plans to congress ahead of the vote. “We either win together or we will be defeated impassively by this silent enemy”, he added in an appeal for unity of purpose beyond political differences to overcome the pandemic and to rebuild the shattered economy.
- In another long session, congress voted overwhelmingly, by 115 votes to five with four abstentions, to grant a vote of confidence in Martos and his cabinet. Only a handful of opposition legislators from the left-wing Frente Amplio (FA) and the ultra-nationalist Unión por el Perú (UPP) opposed his appointment.
- If congress had rejected Martos and his cabinet as well it would have created a crisis of governability in Peru and deputies would have faced charges of irresponsibility in the midst of a pandemic. The constitution expressly precludes the dissolution of congress during the final year of a presidential term.
Looking Ahead: Granting its backing for Martos does not mean congress will suddenly start working cooperatively with the Vizcarra administration. The vote was really an expression of broad support for Martos to lead the cabinet at such a challenging juncture, with Covid-19 rampant. Deputies are still likely to go after individual ministers, starting with a move to censure the education minister, Martín Benavides, and then the economy minister, María Antonieta Alva.