One thing is clear ahead of Peru’s national elections this weekend: It’s likely to leave the country less functional than before. Peruvians are disgusted with the system and won’t back any presidential candidate in sizable numbers. Whomever is the winner, Peru’s new president is going to face an impossible task of governing effectively without a majority in Congress. And he or she will do so amid a raging pandemic that has slipped out of the government’s control and has laid bare the inequality underpinning the country’s more than two decades of spectacular economic growth.
The election follows a litany of corruption scandals. Peru’s last regularly elected president, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, was forced to resign and is awaiting trial on corruption and money laundering charges. His replacement, Martín Vizcarra, was impeached by a cynical and self-serving Congress and then caught up in a vaccine scandal. Congress briefly elevated Vizcarra’s parliamentary antagonist, Manuel Merino, to the presidency. But Merino was run out of office by massive street demonstrations. His replacement, current President Francisco Sagasti, was chosen as a respected centrist to steer the country to new elections.
