The presidency of Pedro Pablo Kuczynski in Peru began with his inauguration on Peru independence day (July 28, 2016) and ended with the president's resignation following a corruption scandal on March 23, 2018.
In June 2016, Kuczynski won over Keiko Fujimori of Popular Force with 8,596,937 votes (50.12% of the vote). However, in those same elections, she achieved a majority in the Congress while the ruling group, Peruanos Por el Kambio, drew a few congressmen.
From the beginning, relations between the Legislative and the Executive were strained and on September 15, 2017, the Congress denied the vote of confidence to then president of the Council of Ministers Fernando Zavala, with which Kuczynski had to appoint a new cabinet. This included 5 new ministers and was chaired by the second vice president and also congresswoman Mercedes Aráoz Fernández. His government has also been marked by the Odebrecht case. Kuczynski himself was the subject of two impeachments in Congress for its conflicts of interest with the company, the first of which failed. Soon after, Congress pardoned former President Alberto Fujimori, who was serving a 25-year sentence for felonies against humanity. The decision triggered protests in Lima and eight other cities as well as the resignation of three of its ministers and the criticism of a broad spectrum of personalities. National political crisis finally led to a second process of presidential vacancy, promoted by the Fujimoristas of Popular Force. But a few days before the Congress debated the vacancy request, the Fujimoristas revealed videos and audios that showed that government operators, including a minister of state, were negotiating with a Popular Force congressman to buy their vote against the government vacancy, in exchange for works for your region. The next day, the president sent his letter of resignation to Congress, which was accepted on 23 March 2018. That same day the engineer Martín Vizcarra was sworn in as new president, for being in the line of succession as he was the first vice president of the Republic.
The slogan of the Kuczynski administration was: "trabajando para tod@s l@s peruan@s" ("Working for all Peruvians" in inclusive language).
Transition period The second round of voting took place on June 5, 2016, which Kuczynski won by a narrow margin. A few days after the ballot, he confirmed that Alfredo Thorne Vetter would assume the position of Minister of Economy and Finance. On June 28, the National Elections Board presented the credentials of Kuczynski as president and Martín Vizcarra and Mercedes Aráoz as vice-presidents, in a ceremony held at the Municipal Theater of Lima. On Sunday, July 10, he announced that Fernando Zavala Lombardi would be the president of the Council of Ministers and days later, both announced the members of the first ministerial cabinet.
Tenure of power The inauguration ceremony was held on 28 July 2016, at the Legislative Palace. It counted with the presence of King Juan Carlos I of Spain, the Latin American presidents: Mauricio Macri, Horacio Cartes, Michelle Bachelet, Enrique Peña Nieto, Juan Manuel Santos and Rafael Correa; Vice presidents Alvaro Garcia Linera, Raúl Fernando Sendic, Óscar Ortiz Ascencio and Jafeth Cabrera Franco; the Brazilian Foreign Minister, José Serra. Among the international delegations was the US Trade Representative, Michael Froman, along with the Assistant Secretary of State for Latin America, Mari Carmen Aponte, and the Assistant Secretary of State for Security Affairs, William Brownfield; also the former Japanese economy minister, Toshihiro Nikai.
In his first speech given to the nation from the headquarters of the National Congress, Kuczynski presented six topics, which, in his view, were of an urgent nature: water and drainage for all Peruvians, quality Public Education, service of public health sensitive to the patient, formalize the country, build infrastructure and development, and complete intolerance for corruption, discrimination, and crime.
Members President and Vice presidents (July 2016 – March 2018)
Prime Ministers (varied)
Composition
Political climate First ministerial cabinet
On 28 July 2016, the Ministers of State were sworn in as part of the inauguration ceremony. The swearing-in, unlike previous occasions in which it had been held in the Golden Hall of the Government Palace, was held this time in the courtyard of honor, outdoors and in full view of the public.
The ministerial cabinet consisted of: Fernando Zavala (Prime minister); Víctor Ricardo Luna Mendoza (Foreign Affairs); Mariano González Fernández (Defense); Alfredo Thorne (Economy and Finance); Carlos Basombrío Iglesias (Interior); Marisol Pérez Tello (Justice and Human Rights); Jaime Saavedra (Education); Patricia García Funegra (Health); José Manuel Hernández Calderón (Agriculture and Irrigation); Alfonso Grados Carraro (Labour); Bruno Giuffra (Production); Eduardo Ferreyros Küppers (Foreign Trade and Tourism); Gonzalo Tamayo (Energy and Mines); Martín Vizcarra (Transport and Communications); Edmer Trujillo Mori (Housing, Construction and Sanitation); Ana María Romero-Lozada (Woman and Vulnerable Populations); Elsa Galarza (Environment); Jorge Nieto Montesinos (Culture); and Cayetana Aljovín (Development and Social Inclusion).
Of the members of the cabinet, six were economists (Zavala, Thorne, Saavedra, Tamayo, Giuffra and Galarza). Some of them had previously held a ministerial position: Zavala had been head of the economy in 2005–2006 during the mandate of Alejandro Toledo; Romero-Lozada was Minister of Women twice, also during the mandate of Alejandro Toledo; Ferreyros was in Foreign Trade in 2010 (during Alan García's second tenure); and Saavedra was Minister of Education since 2013 (during Ollanta Humala's mandate. On the other hand, the lack of equity in terms of gender was questioned, since it was made up of 14 men and 5 women.
Vote of confidence
On 18 August 2016, Prime Minister Fernando Zavala appeared before the plenary of the Congress of the Republic of Peru to request a vote of confidence from his cabinet, in accordance with the constitutional norm. In a speech that lasted two hours, he presented in four blocks the main issues to consider: opportunities, social investment, water and infrastructure; citizen security and fight against corruption; employment, formalization and reactivation of the economy; and bringing the state closer to the citizen. He highlighted the progress made by each of the last five governments, including that of Alberto Fujimori. Although there were doubts that a Congress, which had an absolute majority opposed to the government (represented by the 73 members of Popular Force of a total of 130) could easily grant the vote of confidence, after a long debate that lasted 21 hours, it was approved, with 121 votes in favor, 2 against and one abstention.
Granting of legislative powers Another moment of tension between the Executive and the Congress came when the former asked the latter to grant powers to legislate on economic matters, citizen security, anti-corruption, water and sanitation, and the reorganization of Petroperú. On 30 September 2016, after a six-hour debate, Congress granted the Executive Branch legislative powers for a term of 90 days. Voting was done by topic and not by block. On 7 January 2017, at the expiration of the 90-day period, Prime Minister Zavala announced the publication of 112 legislative decrees.
Bribery scandal Carlos Moreno served as Presidential Adviser on health issues since the beginning of the government. He was, apparently, a very trustworthy person of Kuczynski. So, when he resigned on 4 October 2016, he caught the attention of the media. Kuczynski said at first that the resignation of his advisor was for personal reasons and his heavy workload. However, Moreno himself explained that the reason was because they had recorded their conversations in the Government Palace and that they were involved in a corruption case.
On 9 October, the television program Cuarto Poder broadcast an audio in which Moreno commented on negotiation for a clinic to sign an agreement with the Archbishopric of Lima and, thus, be able to access an agreement to serve patients insured in the System Integral de Salud (SIS). "It's the negotiation, I have the people who do it, I have the patients," Moreno said, as heard in the audio record. "That is our mine. You do not know how much money we are going to win," he added. Although Moreno was separated from the government as soon as the "negotiation" was exposed, the scandal shook an administration that was barely three months since initiation.
Resignation of Minister Mariano Gonzalez
On 27 November 2016, a report from a news program revealed that Defense Minister Cosme Mariano González Fernández maintained a sentimental relationship with an advisor from his office, which he presumably had favored with a promotion. The minister denied having favored his partner and said in his defense: "What I have committed is a fact of love. I have fallen in love."
The next day, González submitted his resignation to the position, which was accepted by Prime Minister Zavala. A week later, he was appointed as Jorge Nieto Montesinos, until then head of the Ministry of Culture headed by the actor and film director Salvador del Solar.
Censorship of Minister Jaime Saavedra Education minister Jaime Saavedra, who held that position since the Humala administration in 2013, was censored by Congress and forced to resign.
The opposition to the government, represented in the Congress by an overwhelming Fujimorist majority allied with the APRA party, began to question the work of the Minister of Education, Jaime Saavedra.
First, it was related to the organization of the 2019 Panamerican Games in Lima, despite having been announced in 2013 (shortly before taking office as minister), not enough had been done in terms of infrastructure construction.
Then, a Sunday television program launched a report in which he denounced that the minister's trusted staff had made a deviation from a budget of 150 million soles destined for the purchase of computers. The opposition in Congress announced that it would interpellate the minister to demand that he give an account of his administration, particularly in relation to the alleged corruption. President Kuczynski publicly supported his minister and argued that the campaign against him originated with a group of legislators associated with private universities who wanted to make changes in the University Law to favor their interests.
On 7 December 2016, Saavedra was questioned at the Congress, whose campus he voluntarily attended to answer a list of 11 questions. After eleven hours of exhibitions and debate, in which the minister accepted that there were irregularities in the purchases made by his sector by people who had "betrayed his trust", the Fujimorist block announced that it would submit a motion of censure against the minister, because, to his see, he was politically responsible and had not responded satisfactorily to the interpellatory statement. Saavedra told the press that he would not resign before the censorship request.
On 15 December, the minister's censorship debate was held, obtaining as a final result 78 votes in favor, none against and no abstention (due to the fact that the benches of Peruvians for Change and Open Front, against the censorship, they retired of the hemicycle before the voting). Saavedra was given a period of 72 hours to present his resignation letter.
On 17 December, Saavedra resigned and the following day she was sworn in by educator Marilú Martens.
Secret bilateral meetings between Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and Keiko Fujimori