In little more than a month, the opposition bloc will have faced three elections and in none of them has it achieved the block vote. The election of Lady Camones of the Alianza para el Progreso (APP), last July, had shown the first fissures, which were tried to be resolved without success in the election of Alejandro Muñante (Popular Renovation) in the third vice-presidency after the resignation of Wilmar Elera (We are Peru).
But the leaking of the audios on APP that ended with the fall of Lady Camones divided the group again. The audios were revealed on Friday of last week and, to date, the block has not been able to meet. Last Sunday, APP called a meeting for 10 am, but it was postponed to 8 pm the same day. In the block chat, only the action-populists María del Carmen Alva and Karol Paredes were willing to meet. The rest remained silent.
Things got worse on Monday when censorship against Camones was debated. The members of the Board of Directors themselves did not support it: the second vice president Digna Calle did not vote and the third vice president Alejandro Muñante abstained. The first vice president, Martha Moyano, voted against it, but in the previous days – during a meeting of the Fujimoristas outside Lima – she had boasted of receiving calls from Camones without answering. In the Fujimorista bench they considered that the audios were an internal APP problem that they themselves had to solve.
To this was added that Avanza País did not support Camones in the censorship. In said bench they allege that there was no prior coordination and the debate came as a surprise to them.
Throughout the week the calls have continued – through the WhatsApp chat – but without success. Lady Camones thanked Fuerza Popular, whom she described as “a great team.” The last message from the Fujimori supporters in said chat sounded more like a threat: “We would have to see if it was just a change or if we should think about more. A table must have cohesion and not inconsistencies”. The message was clearly addressed to Renovación Popular, Podemos and Avanza País.
In the following days, legislators Norma Yarrow and Patricia Chirinos, from Avanza País, continued to attack APP in different media outlets.
Candidates as court
Avanza País presented its candidacy securing the support of Renovación Popular, which did not find support for Gladys Echaíz’s candidacy. In the July election, the play was the other way around: Renovación presented Echaíz as a candidate and Avanza País folded in majority.
Sources from Avanza País indicated that Williams gathered the bench to ask Yarrow and Chirinos to lower the tone of their statements. What they did not expect is that Podemos would present José Elías as their presidential candidate.
Several Podemos congressmen indicated that said candidacy, presented by José Luna, was not agreed upon by the caucus. The decision took the group by surprise, some of them had even been in talks with José Williams.
In this election the 24 votes of Popular Force are key. APP sources indicated that, in the midst of the lack of consensus between Williams and Elías, two solutions have been proposed: withdraw Roberto Chiabra’s resignation and run for him, or reintroduce Lady Camones to the presidency.
The problem with Chiabra is that she doesn’t look favorably on the option of withdrawing her resignation. The Camones thing arose because there is no legal impediment and as a result of the report of the Special Electoral Jury of Central Lima where it was determined that there is no merit to determine any type of infraction. Specifically, they point out that the audio is not sufficient proof and that the bill to create the district of Alto Trujillo has followed its regular course.
According to the same sources, Fuerza Popular has been in favor of the options. The Fujimoristas have announced that they will not participate in the meetings for the time being but have guaranteed their votes for APP. The bet is to force a second round, and as before, that Renovation and Advance join in this stage.