President Pedro Castillo says that the new Ministerial Cabinet will be sworn in on Friday

The president of the Republic, peter castlereported that the new Ministerial Cabinet will be sworn in on Friday, after Prime Minister Aníbal Torres tendered his resignation “for personal reasons” almost six months after taking office.

Castillo, in statements to the press outside the Government Palace, said that he is opening the “space” of the Executive “to the other political parties”, in order to form a “broad-based” ministerial team.

“Tomorrow we are going to swear in this [nuevo] Cabinet. And to the extent that the political actors who believe in the country, who believe in democracy, come closer, welcome, from here [la Casa de Gobierno] I open this space to the other political parties so that once and for all we can create a broad-based cabinet to work for Peru,” he said.

The head of state appeared this morning to the summons made by the Nation’s prosecutor, Patricia Benavides, in the framework of the preliminary investigation that he faces due to irregularities in promotions in the Armed Forces and National Police.

Castillo Terrones is charged with the alleged crimes of influence peddling, illegal sponsorship and criminal organization.

Sources from El Comercio indicated that the president plans to define today the person who will be the new prime minister, as well as the other adjustments in the Cabinet.

The same sources indicated that Castillo Terrones wishes to install a new ministerial team before traveling to Bogotá for the inauguration of the elected president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro.

The head of state has requested permission from Congress to be absent from the country, between August 6 and 8. However, a sector of the opposition has advanced to be against this request.

The cards that Castillo shuffles

The president, so far, is considering four names to replace Torres, two of them are currently part of the Executive: Alejandro Salas (Culture) and Roberto Sánchez (Foreign Trade and Tourism). The others are Dimitri Senmache, former head of the Interior; and Betssy Chávez, former Minister of Labor. These last two were censored by Congress.

Salas resigned, last Monday, his militancy in Somos Peru, after the party of the heart demanded his departure for exercising “a biased defense” of Castillo Terrones, who faces five investigations in the prosecution. Three for the alleged crime of criminal organization.

“What they call in the statement ‘defending the president’, I call it democratic conviction and defense of the institutionality, no person who calls himself a democrat can endorse initiatives aimed at the country falling into misrule or impositions lacking legitimacy” , referred the head of Culture, in response to his former group.

Salas met, on Monday and Tuesday, with the president at the Government Palace. Each appointment lasted almost two hours.

Chávez, who is a congressman from Democratic Peru, was also received by Castillo earlier this week. The meeting was for just over three hours.

Sources from El Comercio indicated that although Senmache has not been to Government House since July 26, he has maintained contact with the head of state. They added that today they would meet in person.

In the previous conversations, according to the same sources, the former Minister of the Interior set three conditions to assume the PCM: exercise a “conciliatory line” in the face of Congress, that the Ministry of the Interior have a neutral leadership (which implies the departure of Willy Huerta), and make adjustments in the Cabinet, for example in the Ministries of Defense and Economy and Finance, among others.

Look for a Cabinet “to cover up”

The political scientist Daniel Encinas considered that Castillo, being a “precarious president”, needs a Cabinet “to cover up” and an example of this was the appointment of Huerta in the Ministry of the Interior. “The government has few incentives to pull people who act independently, and who have professional and ethical credentials, it will be very difficult for a change in the Executive,” he stressed to El Comercio.

Encinas affirmed that he sees in Salas, Senmache, Chávez and Sánchez, with nuances, “the continuity” of the free fall of the government.

“All of them represent the same, the continuity of the degradation of the Presidency, but of all, the worst is Senmache,” he questioned.

Read also: Congress: this was the negotiations to chair the commissions and replace Elera

The political analyst Pedro Tenorio indicated that the delicate legal situation of Castillo Terrones and his way of articulating power, “makes me think that this will not be an opportunity for change and improvement, but that the problems will deepen”, he added that none of the four names that he will download is what he needs for his government to “amend the course”.

“None gives him the political weight or the public importance necessary to attract and convene personalities, people with experience and knowledge who can join his administration. The president is worn out, and that leads him to evaluate among members of the censorship club [como Chávez y Senmache]”, he concluded.