Leftist party unites with Fujimorismo in Peru to reach the board of directors of Congress

The decision was repudiated by broad sectors of society. “It is considered a betrayal and a way of doing dirty politics,” said a far-right congressman.

The first list that is made official for the election of the new president of the Congress of the Republic of Peru has produced endless discomfort in the Andean nation. This Monday it was made public the agreement between Peru Libre (left) and the Fujimori party Fuerza Popular.

According to the local newspaper La Republica, Peru Libre had an agreement with other similar groups to present a leftist list to the Parliament’s board of directors, but in the last few hours there was a change of plans.

Sources say that Vladimir Cerron, the party’s general secretary, and his brother, Waldemar Cerron, who is running as a candidate, opted to support this new list, which was even rejected by the spokesman for his party, Flavio Cruz.

Cerron will go as a candidate for the second vice presidency, while Alejandro Soto, from Alianza para el Progreso, is running for the presidency; Hernando Guerra Garcia, from Fuerza Popular, for the first vice presidency; and Rosselli Amuruz, from Avanza Pais, for the third vice-presidency.

wave of reproaches

One of the first to criticize this alliance was Congresswoman Silvana Robles, who last month resigned from Peru Libre precisely because she anticipated this scenario. “I can’t accept the union against nature with fujimorismo“he said at the time.

“Finally, time clarified everything”, manifested this Monday. “HE finished crushing the ideology of a leftist partyto seal an alliance with what represents the complete opposite of our struggles,” he said.

For her part, Ruth Luque, a parliamentarian from the leftist Democratic Change-Together for Peru party, criticized the inclusion of Peru Libre on the list, with whom they did not recognize the electoral results.

Indeed, in 2021 former President Pedro Castillo won the second round, grouped in Peru Libre, against Keiko Fujimori’s candidate, who denounced alleged electoral fraud as leader of Fuerza Popular.

“They have made an unnatural alliance, let’s see what is behind that list. We have been meeting with different groups of center-left and We thought that Peru Libre would go with us“, recognized Darwin Espinoza, of Popular Action.

right-wing repudiation

In the conservative sector the news also caused stinging. “I have stated that always with the reds on the list, no; with the left, no. That was the last thing we talked about and the meetings were supposed to continue today,” Jorge Montoya declared.

The spokesman for the far-right Renovacion Popular admitted that they were surprised by the announcement. “We were supposed to be part of that block. And that is considered a betrayal and a way of doing dirty politics,” Montoya said at a press conference.

Originally it was rumored that both Fuerza Popular and Renovacion Popular would head a conservative list for the board of directors of Congress.

mass departures

When Soto’s candidacy for the presidency of Congress had barely been confirmed, several members of the Peru Libre caucus announced their break with the party.

Parliamentarians Jaime Quito, Alex Flores and Alfredo Pariona quickly announced their resignation from the bench.

“A decision cannot be made behind the back of the Peruvian people, who have been asking for the resignation of Mrs. Dina Boluarte Zegarra and the closure of Congress,” Pariona wrote in her resignation letter to Cruz.

The answer

Amid this barrage of criticism, the party leader issued a statement to explain the decision. “It would be the first time that the popular left would be at that level of leadership,” he justified.

“The presence of the left at the table should not be understood as its absorption into the ideological line of the right-wing parties, but rather as the break of rightist hegemonywhich will allow plurality in decision-making, from which we were previously totally excluded,” he said.

In addition, Vladimir Cerron assured that “the left must leave the culture of being prepared only to oppose us and not to govern at the highest levels.”