Peru’s Congress confirmed President Dina Boluarte’s cabinet on Tuesday evening, overcoming a key test for her month-long administration that has faced mass unrest and left roughly 40 dead.
The conservative-led Congress confirmed Boluarte’s cabinet with 73 votes in favor out of a total of 130 lawmakers.
The confirmation gives Boluarte some breathing room just a day after the deadliest day of her short administration, when 17 civilians died in clashes with law enforcement in the Andean city of Juliaca. According to Peru’s constitution, Congress needs to confirm the cabinet after the president nominates its members. Otherwise, a rejection would force a reshuffle, usually weakening the head of state.
Prime Minister Alberto Otarola faced noisy protests by left-wing lawmakers before making an address to Congress seeking the approval of the cabinet earlier on Tuesday, amid rising anger over the protests’ death toll. In his remarks, he defended the government’s response and vowed to maintain order. Otarola announced a curfew in Juliaca to run between 8 p.m. and 4 a.m. for the next three days in a bid to quell unrest.
“This government will not back down when faced with violent blackmail,” Otarola said to lawmakers.
Protests erupted in Peru in December after Boluarte took office Dec. 7, following the ouster of her predecessor, former President Pedro Castillo, who was impeached by Congress and then arrested following his attempt to dissolve Congress.
While Boluarte came to office originally as Castillo’s vice-president on a far-left ticket, her cabinet was confirmed on Tuesday with conservative support and with left-wing lawmakers voting in the negative.
Protests are centered in Peru’s impoverished rural South, where demonstrators are demanding Boluarte’s resignation and for new elections to be called sooner than under the current 2024 timeline.
Otarola is already Boluarte’s second prime minister since taking office. Boluarte replaced her first pick after earlier protests in December also turned deadly.
