Peruvian political crisis (2016–present)
Political tension between the Executive and Legislative branches in Peru / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Since 2016, Peru has been plagued with political instability and a growing crisis, initially between the President, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and Congress, led de facto by Keiko Fujimori.[13][14][15][16][17] The crisis emerged in late 2016 and early 2017 as the polarization of Peruvian politics increased, as well as a growing schism between the executive and legislative branches of government.[18] Fujimori and her Fujimorist supporters would use their control of Congress to obstruct the executive branch of successive governments,[19][20] resulting with a period of political instability in Peru.[13]
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Date | 2016 – present | ||||
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Status | Ongoing
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Afflicted by corruption, Congress launched an attempt to remove President Kuczynski from power in December 2017, which failed. Following the emergence of a vote buying scandal related to the pardon of Alberto Fujimori in March 2018, Kuczynski resigned under pressure of impeachment. Kuczynski's successor Martín Vizcarra similarly had tense relations with Congress. During Vizcarra's efforts to combat corruption, he dissolved Congress and decreed snap elections in January 2020, which led to Popular Force losing its majority in Congress. Following corruptions scandals and an impeachment attempt in September 2020, Vizcarra was successfully removed and replaced by Manuel Merino on 9 November 2020, which sparked unrest. After five days in office, Merino resigned. His successor, Francisco Sagasti, briefly stabilized the country while having tense relations with Congress.
During the 2021 Peruvian general election, a crisis emerged between Fujimori and presidential candidate Pedro Castillo, who eventually went on to win the election. Following an electoral crisis, Castillo was inaugurated amid tensions with Fujimori and her allies, as well as the traditional political elite. Castillo faced harsh criticism from a far-right Congress and removal attempts.[21][22] Following a failed second removal attempt, protests broke out against Castillo. Castillo remained highly unpopular throughout his presidency. Following initiations of a third removal attempt, Castillo attempted to dissolve Congress. Castillo was later removed from office and was replaced by his vice president, Dina Boluarte. Boluarte, who initially was elected with Castillo's campaign, began to side with the political elite as protests against Castillo's removal broke out. Governmental response to the protests was criticized following massacres in Ayacucho and Juliaca, as well other reports of human rights abuses.[23] Through packing the Constitutional Court of Peru with supporters, Fujimorists consolidated power within Congress, gaining control of high institutions in the country.[24][25][26][27][28]
Since the crisis began, Peru has been plagued with democratic backsliding,[29] authoritarianism,[30][31] an economic recession,[32] and endemic corruption,[18] as well as impunity.[33] Three of Peru's presidents have been described as authoritarian since the crisis began,[31][34][35][36] while the majority of former presidents have been either imprisoned or subject to criminal investigations.[lower-alpha 1] The crisis also caused a loss of support for political parties and politicians in general,[37] which has led to Peru being labeled as a 'failed democracy'.[31][38][39][40]