The President of Peru, Pedro Castillo, tried to alleviate the acute political crisis facing his government on Tuesday with the appointment of a new cabinet of ministers, the fourth in just over six months of management, while the political opposition adds more and more voices in favor of his resignation.
Castillo entrusted the head of the Council of Ministers to the lawyer Aníbal Torres, who to date was Minister of Justice and Human Rights , replacing the controversial congressman Héctor Valer, who resigned last Saturday, just four days after taking office, pressured by allegations of family violence against him.
Torres, The main legal adviser to the Marxist Peru Libre party that brought Castillo to power, was sworn in at a ceremony held at the Government Palace, in which the president, who was surprised not to be dressed in the hat that characterized him from the beginning of his administration, he also swore in six new ministers and ratified another twelve.
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President @Pedro CastilloTe swore in @anibaltorresv as head of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers (@pcmperu). #GabineteTorres pic.twitter.com/t7ohqh3Dpi
– Presidency of Peru ?? (@presidenciaperu) February 9, 2022
With this new attempt to appease the questioning of public opinion and the political confrontation, Castillo has already accumulated 21 ministerial discharges, a replacement every little more than nine days on average, on the verge of serving 200 days at the head of the country.
This time, the remodeling of the cabinet included the Ministry of Health, where the surgeon Hernán Condori was sworn in; Women and Vulnerable Populations, where the feminist activist Diana Miloslavich was appointed; and Justice and Human Rights, which was assumed by Ángel Yldefonso.
Castillo also made changes in the portfolios of Energy and Mines, where the engineer Carlos Palacios assumed; in the one for Agrarian Development and Irrigation, where the official congressman and teacher Óscar Zea was sworn in, and in the one for the Environment, where the researcher Modesto Montoya was appointed.
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? The head of state, @PedroCastilloTe , swore in the members of the new Ministerial Cabinet, led by @anibaltorresv, during a ceremony held tonight at the Government Palace.#GabineteTorres #SiempreConElPueblo pic.twitter.com/O8zJG1Mpb9
— Presidency of Peru ?? (@ presidentialperu) February 9, 2022
Instead, the leftist president ratified the holders of the twelve remaining offices, including Alfonso Chávarry, in Interior, and José Luis Gavidia, in Defense, whose appointments last week also sparked controversy for ac uses against him, the first for alleged links to illicit drug traffickingand the second for alleged family violence.
A few minutes after the swearing-in of the new ministerial team, several congressmen of the opposition expressed through social networks their rejection of Torres’ appointment, questioning the promise Castillo made to form, this time, a “more participatory and broad-based” cabinet.
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“Suicide in the Palace: President Castillo ends his presidency by appointing as Prime Minister the most erratic, confrontational and resentful of his ministers, the ineffable Aníbal Torres,” parliamentarian Carlos Anderson, spokesman for the right-wing Podemos Peru party, wrote on Twitter.
Suicide in the Palace: the President Castillo put an end to his presidency by appointing as prime minister the most erratic, confrontational and resentful of his ministers, the ineffable Aníbal Torres. “There I leave my premier as a sign of my contempt for stupid democracy”
– Carlos A. Anderson (@CarlosAnderso1) February 9, 2022
Why did you refinish the cabinet?
PERUVIAN PRESIDENCY / AFP
This cabinet reshuffle was the head of state’s response to the severe political crisis that began last week, with the departure of Mirtha Vásquez of the presidency of the Council of Ministers and the subsequent appointment of Héctor Valer as head of the cabinet.
The appointment of Valer, a lawyer and current congressman, has sparked controversy since a beginning, when it transpired that he had accumulated complaints of family violence, although he described them as false and attributed them to a campaign fueled by the press “only with the intention of harming”.
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Faced with the barrage of criticism against his figure, Valer acknowledged his “defeat” on Saturday and announced that he was putting his position at the disposal of the president.
This tense scenario led the political opposition, which dominates Congress, and some media outlets to launch There are calls for Castillo to resign, as well as warnings that if he doesn’t, they will file a motion to try to remove him .
The president himself also issued a statement on Monday in which he assured that his commitment remains “firm” and “more strongly than ever until July 28, 2026”, when his term ends.
The new cabinet, which will have to appear before Congress in the coming days to ask for its vote of confidence, will begin its functions this Wednesday, when the first Council of Ministers is scheduled to be held. under the leadership of Torres, according to Castillo on Tuesday.