Peru President Wants Early Elections After Corruption Scandal

(Bloomberg) -- Peru President Martin Vizcarra presented a reform to congress to bring forward general elections by one year to next July, saying the corruption-battered country needs a fresh start.

The constitutional reform would cut short terms for the president himself and members of congress, Vizcarra said in a televised address to congress Sunday. Elections are currently scheduled for 2021 and the proposal would require ratification via a referendum. Vizcarra, who assumed office in March last year when President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski resigned amid a graft scandal, said the public had lost faith in its government.

“Let us recover the people’s trust and show the country that everyone, regardless of their political affiliation, is united in the fight against corruption,” he said near the end of a more than hour-long independence day speech. “The voice of the people has to be heard.”

The country has been embroiled in scandal since Brazilian contractor Odebrecht S.A. admitted in 2016 to carrying out a vast bribery scheme to win lucrative construction contracts across the region. The scandal has ensnared four Peruvian presidents, including Alan Garcia, who shot himself in April as police arrived at his Lima home to arrest him. Garcia’s predecessor, Alejandro Toledo, was arrested this month in California, where a judge is considering an extradition request by the Peruvian authorities. An Odebrecht spokesman did not immediately return a request for comment on Sunday.

Vizcarra said corruption had damaged the country, affecting economic growth, and that congress had not done enough to root it out.

One of Latin America’s fastest-growing economies has slowed in recent months amid contractions in the mining and fishing industries and a global slowdown. Vizcarra said his government will seek to replace a 30-year-old mining law while pursuing a series of projects to jump start the $225 billion economy.

The reforms seek to ease regulations and encourage investments in sectors like agriculture and tourism, he said, while offering a new plan for the infrastructure sector. The proposals could restore growth to above 5%, he said. The central bank cut its 2019 growth forecast to 3.4% from 4% after a weak first half of 2019.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ezra Fieser in Bogota at efieser@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Daniel Cancel at dcancel@bloomberg.net, Bruce Douglas

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