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WORLD NEWS Saturday 28 September 2019

Peru leader pushes vote that

could let him dissolve congress

By FRANKLIN BRICENO six of the court’s seven which lawmakers will ap-
Associated Press magistrates Monday. Their prove or reject as a sign of
LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peruvian terms had already expired, confidence in his adminis-
President Martín Vizcarra but Vizcarra and others, tration.
on Friday escalated his including the Inter-Amer- Under Peru’s constitution,
feud with the opposition- ican Commission on Hu- the executive can push
controlled congress, say- man Rights, have criticized congress to hold a vote of
ing he would push for a lawmakers for the haste confidence. One such vote
vote of confidence on his and lack of transparency already took place under
administration as he cam- in which the candidates Vizcarra’s predecessor,
paigns for stronger curbs have been selected. ex-President Pedro Pablo
on corruption. One of the 11 candidates Kuczynski, who resigned
Should the legislature re- is Wilber Medina, a lawyer after opposition lawmak-
ject the vote, Vizcarra who has indicated that he ers revealed previously un-
would have grounds un- considers Fujimori a “politi- disclosed payments from
der Peru’s constitution to cal prisoner” and previously Odebrecht to his private
dismiss congress and hold represented ex-President consulting firm.
new elections. Alan García. García com- By law, if congress rejects a
“It’s clear the democracy mitted suicide in April as of- second confidence vote,
of our nation is at risk,” he ficers arrived at his home to the president can then dis-
said in a televised address detain him while investigat- solve the legislature.
to the nation. ing alleged ties to the Ode- Vizcarra, who took power
Vizcarra has made fighting brecht scandal. in March 2018 after Kuc-
Peru’s endemic graft the Three others have voiced zynski’s resignation, has
signature drive of his presi- their disapproval of Vizcar- become an unexpectedly Peru’s President Martin Vizcarra delivers a national message at
dency, clashing frequently ra’s early election proposal. popular president as he Government Palace, after an emergency cabinet meeting in
with congress as he pushes “This is an affront to all Peru- takes on the monumen- Lima, Peru, Friday, Sept. 27, 2019.
through reforms aimed at vians!” he decried. tal task of rooting out the Associated Press
preventing ethical viola- Vizcarra is expected to South American nation’s government, from judges finance their campaigns.
tions in government. propose still unannounced widespread corruption. caught negotiating sen- Nearly every former living
The political duel intensified changes to how magis- High-profile corruption tences to presidents who president in Peru is being
in recent weeks after law- trates to the Constitution- cases have been exposed prosecutors allege took investigated in connection
makers decided to shelve al Tribunal are selected, in nearly every branch of money from Odebrecht to with the probe.q
Vizcarra’s proposal to hold
gressional elections, which Nicaragua’s Nuevo Diario paper
early presidential and con-

he argues is necessary to
break the deadlock and stops printing after 39 years
stabilize the nation.
Vizcarra scolded congress MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP)
for dismissing the initia- — Nicaragua’s Nuevo Dia-
tive “without even allow- rio newspaper announced
ing a discussion” and then Friday that it is stopping its
quickly moving forward print edition after 39 years.
with scheduling a vote on Nuevo Diario was favorable
new appointments to the to the Sandinista Revolu-
Constitutional Tribunal. tion when it was founded
“With incredible speed, in 1980, but has since be-
they proposed candidates come critical of President
in half an hour, without Daniel Ortega’s crack-
even weighing whether down on protests.
some of the candidates The paper said it was stop-
have ties to those being in- ping its print run “due to
vestigated for corruption,” economic, technical and
he said. logistical difficulties that
The high court is set to de- make it impossible to func-
cide on a number of impor- tion.”
tant cases in the months The paper did not explain
ahead, including a habe- those difficulties, but since
as corpus request to free last year it has complained
Keiko Fujimori, the former Ortega’s government has In this Nov. 5, 2008 file photo, a man reads a copy of El Nuevo Dario at the Oriental market in
first daughter whose party not allowed it to obtain im- Managua, Nicaragua.
controls congress. She is ported newsprint and ink. Associated Press
being held while prosecu- In a statement Friday, the ly said it only has enough ed in April 2018. ernment.”
tors investigate allegations paper did not say whether ink and newsprint for a few The Inter-American Press The association noted that
of money laundering relat- it would continue with a months. Association said it “regrets Nuevo Diario previously
ed to the massive Odebre- digital version. Hundreds of Nicaraguans that another newspaper in had to cut its print edition
cht corruption scandal. The country’s oldest news- have been killed, jailed or Latin America has stopped from 38 to eight pages on
Lawmakers have sched- paper, La Prensa, founded forced into exile since pro- publishing due to pressure weekdays because of the
uled the vote to replace 93 years ago, has previous- tests against Ortega erupt- from an authoritarian gov- paper shortage.q