Peru: Vizcarra and his new cabinet

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Last Monday, the Peruvian president Martin Vizcarra presented his new cabinet of ministers

As a way to strengthen his popularity and increase efforts to stimulate the economy, Vizcarra decided to reorganize his cabinet. In this way, the president replaced the ministers of industry, agriculture, and housing, in addition to increasing the female quota, now there will be nine women who will be part of the cabinet.

Leer en español: Perú: Vizcarra y su nuevo gabinete

As La República explains, the changes respond to criticism "that the president is not fulfilling promises to accelerate investment in infrastructure and lacks new initiatives after last year's anti-corruption drive". However, the prime minister, Salvador del Solar, said that the changes made by Vizcarra do not correspond to a crisis or urgency "but to new ambitions of the government", according to EFE.

However, and one of the most important achievements of this cabinet is that for the second time in 198 years "of republican life" a joint cabinet is presented. According to Iván Lanegra, professor of Political Science and Government at the PUCP and the Universidad del Pacífico, the first government to achieve the above lasted between July and October 2013.

Similarly, he stressed that "it is not" difficult "to identify women with the profile to be ministers. What happens is that we are so accustomed to not thinking about them for the high public towns that we have trouble opening our eyes ".

Similarly, political scientist Iris Jave and in dialogue with France 24, the decision to appoint more women as ministers, responds to the promise made when he took office in April 2018, after the resignation of Pedro Pablo Kuczynski after investigations by links with Odebrecht.

"I think the president wanted to fulfill his promise today by trying to have a joint cabinet (…) it seems that there are no political women. But in truth what there is is a lack of opportunities. This cabinet demonstrates the capacity of many women politicians and their existence. It is a powerful message on a day like today when girls and boys returned to school", he concluded.

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From actor to Prime Minister

On the other hand, Salvador Del Solar was chosen to lead the cabinet of the 19 new ministers. Del Solar is not only known for being an actor in soap operas and movies but also was Minister of Culture from December 2016 to December 2017, after the pardon of former President Alberto Fujimori.

As América Economía recalls, the appointment of Salvador del Solar, "replaces the resignation César Villanueva who decided to move away from the Executive after almost a year of management at the head of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers." In addition, the new prime minister not only has experience in acting, because "he trained as a lawyer and has a master's degree in international relations from the University of Syracuse", according to La República.

For several experts, the entrance of Salvador del Solar responds to the call of the low popularity that Vizcarra has presented, which although it is 55% high, does not compare with that registered by Ipsos Peru in December, 66% approval.

On the other hand, for RPP, within the main challenges of the new cabinet, they will "neutralize the instability caused by sectors of Parliament, promote the political reform promoted by the government, deepen the reform of the justice system, sustain the fight against corruption", among others.

LatinAmerican Post | Laura Viviana Guevara Muñoz

Translated from "Vizcarra y su nuevo gabinete"