Politics in Peru

, Economy & Politics

By Caroline Bennett

The Republic of Peru operates as a presidential representative democratic republic and is based on a multi-party system, whereby the president (Alan García as of writing, 2007) is elected for a five year term and serves as both head of state and head of government. The legislative body is a 120-member elected unicameral Congress, and- though once a toothless body acting at the whim of the president- has seen a notable increase in powers in recent years and serves as an important counterbalance to the executive branch. The Judiciary is independent of both the executive and legislative branches, and new strives have been made to reform its notoriously obsolete and corruption-ridden practices.

Peru's modern political history has been more a series of personality showdowns and power politics struggles than an institution based on party platforms, though parties spring up and have maintained a prominent place in the face of Peruvian politics since the 1950s.

Peru is in an ongoing state of democratization but has struggled to achieve the development progress of neighboring countries largely due to corruption and poor leadership, rendering the nation gravely impoverished and disposed to increased inequality. Peruvian politics have been continually compromised by corruption, with two of the last three presidents currently under investigation.

Remnants of the first major disappointment still linger after the erratic presidency of Alberto Fujimori, who was elected in 1990. Though the early years of his term looked hopeful and inspired a dramatic economic turnaround and significant progress in curtailing guerrilla activity, the president's increasing reliance on harsh authoritarian measures and economic decline in the late 1990s spawned rising dissatisfaction with his regime, contributing to its rapid decline. Fujimori resigned from office in 2000, fleeing to his native Japan as charges of diverting vast government revenues closed in on him. He later returned to South America and based himself in Chile during the 2006 Peruvian elections in an attempt to clear his reputation, but was quickly held by authorities.

Alejandro Toledo, García's most recent predecessor and the first democratically elected Peruvian president of indigenous descent, later failed to make good on promises to both meet the needs of the poor and bring the country up to speed in light of globalization. Topping off his apparent inability to make any sort of progress, he is still under investigation for nasty scandals exposed during his term as president.

The presidential election of 2006 saw the return of García who, after serving a less than impressive presidential term during the turbulent 1980s, returned to office with ideas for social reform and promises of major improvements of the economic situation. Thus far the government led by García seems far more interested in neo-liberal strategies such as free trade, than in adopting policies aimed at reducing poverty and advancing Millennium Development Goals.

Peru turned down the opportunity to address these issues when it elected García over the populist candidate Ollanta Humala, who shows greater interest in pro-poor policies and campaigned on the premise of bringing about a "revolution for the poor." But García cited Humala's open support of Venezuela’s leftist president Hugo Chávez as dangerous for the independence of the nation and took the seat.

Poverty has been further exacerbated by the diversion of much needed national resources to deal with internal conflict caused by rebel groups such as the Maoist Shining Path and the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA). Though much progress in curbing violence was seen during Fujimori's presidency, the campaign was expensive and sporadic insurgencies have since plagued the nation. Drug trafficking and drug-related crime also remains a problem in Peru and involvement is often attributed to former members of these revolutionary groups.