Former Andahualas Mayor: ‘If Congress rejects Dina Boluarte, the only thing she can do is resign’

Edgar Villanueva, the former mayor of the province of Andahuaylas, said that the way out of the political crisis in which the country has plunged is the presentation by the executive branch of a project to advance the elections, with a reasonable timeframe for holding in 2023. Otherwise, there would be no other option than the resignation of President Dina Boluarte to avoid a further escalation of the protests, which have killed 57 people to date.

“The political solution is that the President of the Republic should not only take the initiative, but also act in accordance with the law and use Article 118 of the Political Constitution, which gives her the right to convene an extraordinary session of Congress and that propose a well-drafted billeven agreed in advance that early elections would be scheduled for 2023,” he said in a News Extension.

“There must be a common political solution. A session of Congress is called for Monday for the purpose of review. I think that in these circumstances the president may call for a session of Congress on Tuesday and agree to his draft law, whatever the outcome (…) And if that is not possible, if it is rejected by Congress itself, the only thing you can do is to resign, because the crisis will escalate further. This performer is on an artificial respirator: he has no bench, no political power, no popular support, ”he added.

“Most congressmen don’t want to leave”

On the other hand, Villanueva believed that in Congress there is no will that seeks solutions for the majority of Peruvians, but actions based on personal or party interests.

“Congress does not give a way out. In fact, Congress and most congressmen do not want to leave. You must say it clearly. They can come up with a thousand arguments: from the extreme right, who put forward arguments for fundamental reforms, supposedly as if we lived in Switzerland and were not in a political crisis. But this is a suggestion. Admiral Montoya has repeatedly said: “We are not leaving. We stay until 2026. This is your thesis. And on the part of the ultra-pseudo-aligned, they also want to stay. Mr Cerron said last night: “We will not leave unless there is a Constituent Assembly.” In other words, real extortion. They don’t want to leave,” he said.

“Unfortunately, there is no political activity on the part of the executive branch that allows opening spaces not only for dialogue, but also for resolving this issue. Since December 9, we have been warning that it was a mistake to call elections for April 2024, so that they take place in July. In Andahuaylas, two people have already died. We warn you: the elections must be postponed to 2023, this fire that is looming must be extinguished with the death and mobilization of people, albeit with the wrong narrative, but with the right to mobilize,” he added.

I deny that the peasant movements in Andahuaylas are led by drug dealers.

Former mayor Andahailas pointed out that the demonstrations of citizens in his region are not in the interests of the drug trade, but have arisen spontaneously. However, he mentioned that there is a possibility that there are infiltrators in the protests.

“I reject that the movement of the peasants in Andahuaylas is directed or that it is mainly the interests of drug traffickers. This is completely false. There was a spontaneous mobilization of the corrupt ex-president Pedro Castillo, who is in prison. And with all the rights they can march to demand what they see fit. However, I believe there may be infiltrated drug dealers who have interests. For example, in Chincheros, the prosecutor’s office was burned down. And Chincheros is connected with VRAI and there are a lot of folders of drug dealers, ”he concluded.