President-elect Keiko Fujimori began her term by requesting legislative powers for a period of 120 days to address issues such as public safety, labor market flexibility, and the modernization of the state. “To address the urgent challenges posed by the El Niño phenomenon and public safety concerns, we will issue emergency decrees and request delegated powers from the Congress of the Republic,” she stated in her address to the nation on July 28.
To that end, she has already held a preliminary meeting with the opposition caucuses of the Ahora Nación (AN) party, and a meeting has been scheduled for this Friday, the 31st, with the Juntos por el Perú (JP) and Buen Gobierno (BG) caucuses, which are showing cautious openness to reviewing the requested powers.
A New “Pulpín Law”?
However, according to the newspaper La República, Congresswoman Indira Huilca (AN) noted that following the meeting, the request “is concerning” because it is too broad and does not focus on urgent issues such as the El Niño phenomenon, but rather centers on proposals to amend labor legislation, changes to tax policies, and environmental matters.
Huilca finds the intention to modify the hiring regime for young people troubling. “What they have proposed resembles the controversial Pulpín Law,” she stated, referring to a law that sought to reduce informal employment by cutting social benefits and was repealed amid massive protests in 2015. “The country needs economic policies that promote employment, but employment with rights, not precarious employment,” he added.
Merger of Public Agencies
Another cause for concern is the plan to reorganize the state structure, which would allow for the merger of regulatory agencies—including SUNAT and INDECOPI, among others—that perform important functions and require budgetary allocations, personnel, logistics, and other resources to operate.
The bill also proposes creating voluntary financial incentives for staff who decide to leave public service during the reorganization of these agencies, except in the case of workers with job security.
Changes in Productive Sectors
With regard to productive sectors such as agriculture, forestry, fisheries, aquaculture, mining, hydrocarbons, electricity, and tourism, measures will be taken to simplify permitting processes and optimize water resource management (which has been the subject of various protests over projects affecting watersheds), among other initiatives.
Likewise, there will also be amendments to environmental regulations to streamline the approval timelines for environmental management instruments—will this affect the environmental assessments of projects that impact the environment and communities located within their areas of influence?
A Major Gap: the Anti-Crime Laws
The repeal of the anti-crime laws—which is the overwhelming demand of the entire Peruvian population across the country’s three regions (coast, highlands, and jungle) and all 25 departments, as these laws have plunged thousands of households into mourning due to extortion and contract killings—is not addressed in the request for special powers.
According to the Executive Branch, public insecurity will be combated through the restructuring of the prison system, social reintegration, and the temporary involvement of the Armed Forces in correctional facilities. Additionally, the legal framework will be updated to allow for private investment in public-private partnerships in prisons nationwide. Have past measures reduced public insecurity through restructuring of the prison system?
Opposition caucuses—comprising the political parties Together for Peru (JP), Now Nation (AN), and Works and Good Governance (BG)—are currently evaluating the request for special powers submitted by Keiko Fujimori. We must remember that youth employment with labor rights, institutional political stability, environmental protection, and our potential as a productive nation are at stake.
