• MPs rejected a constitutional measure to hold early elections in 2023.
• Since Pedro Castillo’s resignation, calls for early elections have grown.
• 49 lawmakers backed the motion, 33 opposed it, and 25 abstained.

A constitutional amendment that would have allowed for early general elections in 2023 was rejected by MPs on Friday as protests against the former president of Peru erupted there.

Since former president Pedro Castillo was removed from office last week after attempting to dissolve Congress and appoint an emergency administration, calls for early presidential and parliamentary elections have grown.

On Thursday, Castillo’s successor, President Dina Boluarte, had asked Congress “to take the best options to reduce deadlines and achieve the needed reforms” hold early elections.

“Here all of us will need to go: executive and legislative,” she said.

However, only 49 parliamentarians supported the measure to speed up the election process, while 33 opposed it and 25 abstained, falling short of the 87 votes required to implement the reform.

“The constitutional reform that modifies the duration of the mandate for president, first vice president and congressmen elected during the 2021 elections and establishes the electoral process (and) general elections in 2023 has not been approved,” Congress President Jose Williams announced.

The country’s Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that Castillo, a former teacher and union leader from rural Peru, must spend the next 18 months in pretrial detention.

His supporters demonstrated outside the courthouse and around the nation.

According to the Ombudsman office on Thursday, at least 340 people have been hurt and at least 20 people have died as a result of the turmoil.

Numerous visitors have also been left stranded due to the continuous protests when trains to the area were suspended by Peru’s railway operator.

But so far, it seems like lawmakers are averse to change. According to Omar Cairo, a constitutional law professor at Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, “they have the right to stay in office until 2026” because they haven’t heard or understood the aspirations of the people and have refused early elections.

The public already has a negative opinion of Peru’s legislature. According to Peruvian law, the president and members of legislature are not permitted to serve multiple terms, and detractors have cited their lack of political experience.

According to an IEP survey released in September 2022, 84% of Peruvians disapproved of the work of Congress. In Congress, lawmakers are thought to not only be acting in their own best interests but are also connected to unethical behavior.

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