Peru's President Dissolves Congress

 

Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra dissolved congress Monday. Vizcarra used his powers as Peru’s head of state to dismiss the opposition¹-controlled legislature. He accused opposition lawmakers of trying to stop his efforts to end corruption³.

Vizcarra told the South American nation that he had decided⁴ to call new legislative⁵ elections. He announced his decision after lawmakers voted to replace almost all the judges on the Peruvian Constitutional Tribunal.

"We are making history that will be remembered by future generations," he said. He added that he hoped the future generations understood he was in a fight against “evil that has caused much harm to our country.”

Vizcarra's decision is likely to be widely welcomed by Peruvians, who have been asking for new congressional elections to replace the majority party.

Keiko Fujimori, a daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori, is the party’s leader. She is being held in detention⁶, and has been accused of accepting more than $1 million in bribes⁸.

"Peruvians will not shed many tears," said Harvard University political scientist Stephen Levitsky. He has extensively studied the nation.

The decision to dissolve Congress may, however, cause problems for the government. Opposition leaders called the move the work of a "dictator." They began pushing for a vote to oust⁹ Vizcarra as president, but it will have little value since the congress has been dissolved.

"This was the plan from the start," said a spokeswoman for Fuerza Popular, the party of Keiko Fujimori.

Vizcarra became president last year after President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski from office. The resignation followed reports that Kuczynski’s private business had received large amounts of money from Odebrecht, a Brazilian company. Odebrecht has admitted giving millions of dollars to politicians throughout Latin America in exchange for deals to build public works projects.

Vizcarra became popular in Peru because of his support for anti-corruption laws. But he has struggled to get legislation through congress. He was forced to use a “vote of confidence” threat to get any legislation passed.

Recently, Vizcarra criticized lawmakers for being in a hurry to organize a vote on replacing six of the Constitutional Tribunal’s seven members. While the magistrates’ terms had ended, Vizcarra believed lawmakers were trying to fill the tribunal with judges who would slow down corruption investigations¹¹.

The court is expected to rule soon on several important cases, including a request to free Fujimori. The government is holding her while its lawyers investigate reports that she laundered¹³ money from Odebrecht.

The newspaper El Comercio reported Monday that six of the candidates for a judgeship have been accused of such crimes as kidnapping and sex abuse.

Peru's judicial¹⁴ system is known to be corrupt². Investigators¹⁵ have caught judges negotiating deals on sentences for serious crimes.

Vizcarra had warned he would dissolve congress if legislators went ahead with the magistrate¹⁰ votes. He wanted lawmakers first to discuss his proposal for reforming the process of how judges are chosen.

Lawmakers pushed forward with the vote on Monday. They accused Vizcarra of barring what should have been a "simple” vote under the rules of the law.

"The political crisis we're in is only Vizcarra's fault," legislator Mauricio Mulder said.

It could be worse.

In 1992, Alberto Fujimori dissolved Peru’s congress, seized legislative powers and suspended the constitution.

In comparison, Vizcarra's shutdown is likely to be considered an honest use of constitutional powers, Stephen Levitsky said. He added that he expects more political problems in the days to come. He explained that the Fuerza party will likely lose its majority in a new election, but that could create a new congress full of inexperienced legislators.

"For now, democracy is probably safe because everyone is weak," he said.

I’m Susan Shand.

Words in this Story

dissolve – v. to officially end something, such as a marriage or organization

bribe⁷ – n. something valuable that is given in order to get someone to do something

launder¹² (money) – v. to put money that you got by doing something illegally into a business or bank in order to hide where it really came from

1 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

2 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

3 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

6 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

7 bribe   

n.贿赂；v.向…行贿，买通

参考例句：

• He tried to bribe the policeman not to arrest him.他企图贿赂警察不逮捕他。
• He resolutely refused their bribe.他坚决不接受他们的贿赂。

8 bribes   

n.贿赂( bribe的名词复数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂v.贿赂( bribe的第三人称单数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• corrupt officials accepting bribes 接受贿赂的贪官污吏

9 oust   

vt.剥夺，取代，驱逐

参考例句：

• The committee wanted to oust him from the union.委员会想把他从工会中驱逐出去。
• The leaders have been ousted from power by nationalists.这些领导人被民族主义者赶下了台。

10 magistrate   

n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官

参考例句：

• The magistrate committed him to prison for a month.法官判处他一个月监禁。
• John was fined 1000 dollars by the magistrate.约翰被地方法官罚款1000美元。

11 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

12 launder   

v.洗涤；洗黑钱（把来路可疑的钱弄得似乎合法）

参考例句：

• She wore a freshly laundered and starched white shirt.她穿一件刚刚浆洗熨烫过的白色衬衣。
• The gang launders the steal money through their chain of restaurants.这帮匪徒通过他们的连锁饭店洗赃款。

13 laundered   

v.洗（衣服等），洗烫（衣服等）( launder的过去式和过去分词 )；洗（黑钱）（把非法收入改头换面，变为貌似合法的收入）

参考例句：

• Send these sheets to be laundered. 把这些床单送去洗熨。 来自辞典例句
• The air seems freshly laundered. Sydney thinks of good drying weather. 空气似乎被清洗过，让悉妮想起晴朗干爽适合晒衣服的好天气。 来自互联网

14 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

15 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》