A stormy week of protests and backroom politics began last Monday with the impeachment of President Martin Vizcarra and ended on Sunday with the forced resignation of five-day-President Manuel Merino. Late the following day, members of the nine political parties in Congress finally reached a consensus, and a solid majority elected Francisco Sagasti of the Partido Morado to head the Congress and, consequently, become President of the republic.
The consensus was hard fought, not because congress didn’t want Sagasti, or earlier candidate Rocío Silva-Santisteban but — as political analyst Martin Tanaka points out— because lawmakers wanted someone like Merino. Someone who would give them a free hand to amend laws and the national budget for populist aims and their personal ambitions. Tanaka sees Sagasti’s election as a ray of hope.
Sagasti is the third president in eight days. Coincidentally, he was also sworn in 20 years to the day that Valentin Paniagua became president of Congress and immediately President of the country, when President Alberto Fujimori resigned, by fax from Japan, in the middle of a corruption crisis.
The United Nations and the Organization of American States were among the first to congratulate Sagasti, though both institutions warned of the crises and challenges he will have to face over the next eight months.
“We trust in his ability to lead the country through this crisis and until the next presidential and congressional elections on April 11, 2021,” said Luis Almagro, secretary general of the OAS.
Ex-President Martin Vizcarra also congratulated the choice of Sagasti. “I am glad responsibility prevailed over individual interests. Only someone with democratic principles can provide support in the difficult situation the country is living through,” Vizcarra said.
Credit Suisse also agreed. “We believe that Francisco Sagasti’s background as a centrist technocrat and his strong support by Congress bodes well for appeasing the political crisis and social discontent,” the bank stated in its daily report.
Sagasti is aware of the difficulties. “This is not a moment for celebration, we have too many problems, tragedies and difficulties. It is a moment to ask ourselves, where did we lose our way,” he told Congress.
An industrial engineer, university professor and development specialist, Sagasti was a research associate at the University of Sussex and has served as head of the United Nations’ science and technology advisory committee for development, head of the strategic planning division of the World Bank, and a member of the Bank’s Carnegie Commission for science, technology and government. He is also a founder member of the GRADE research institute in Lima.
In his inaugural speech on Tuesday in Congress, Sagasti emphasized the need to focus on education, health and the economy, and to draw up long-term policies to make science and technology a prominent part of policies, and to face the challenges of climate change.
Sagasti also appealed to the Congress to work with him over the next eight months to improve the current situation for the next government, which will be installed next July. He will need to somehow maintain their current enthusiasm, since many have their own agendas that run counter to much of what Sagasti aims to achieve and which led them to impeach and oust Martin Vizcarra.
Sagasti’s first actions after the inauguration included visiting wounded protesters in the Arzobispo Loayza hospital. Guests at his inauguration included the families of Inti Sotelo, 22, and Bryan Pintado, 24, who were killed by police during the protest march in Lima on Nov. 14.
He asked the parents for forgiveness. “We cannot give back these young men their lives, but we can prevent this from happening again. We can also decidedly help the wounded, some of whom are in critical condition.”
