PERU: THE PARTY OF PRESIDENT ALEJANDRO TOLEDO TROUNCED IN ELECTIONS FOR LEADERS OF NEW REGIONAL GOVERNMENTS THAT WILL SHARE POWER WITH THE CAPITAL

Record ID: 640791

  • Title: PERU: THE PARTY OF PRESIDENT ALEJANDRO TOLEDO TROUNCED IN ELECTIONS FOR LEADERS OF NEW REGIONAL GOVERNMENTS THAT WILL SHARE POWER WITH THE CAPITAL
  • Date: 19th November 2002
  • Summary: (W8) LIMA, PERU (NOVEMBER 17, 2002) (REUTERS) MV POLITICAL POSTERS ON WALL PAN SLV EXTERIOR OF VOTING AREA WITH VOTERS WALKING BY SLV POLICE IN FRONT OF A VOTING AREA; MV POLICE WATCHING LINE OF VOTERS; MV VOTERS READING ELECTION MATERIAL (4 SHOTS) MV PEOPLE VOTING (2 SHOTS) MV PERU'S PRESIDENT ALEJANDRO TOLEDO VOTING; TOLEDO MAKING VICTORY SIGN WITH HIS HANDS; MV TOLEDO WALKING TOWARD HIS CAR AMONG APPLAUSE OF VOTERS AERIAL SHOT OF LIMA, PERU; TOLEDO FLYING OVER LIMA IN HELICOPTER (7 SHOTS) (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PRESIDENT OF PERU ALEJANDRO TOLEDO SAYING "We are making a transcendental step in the reform of the state with this regional election and, as I said last night in my message, here hands are extended for the officials who were elected here today." MV TABLE DURING COUNTING OF VOTES; SCU HANDS OF PRESIDENT OF VOTE-COUNTING TAKING BALLOTS OUT OF BALLOT BOX; SCU MEMBER OF VOTE-COUNTING GROUP ORGANISING BALLOTS FOR COUNTING; MV MEMBERS OF THE VOTE-COUNTING GROUP DURING COUNTING (4 SHOTS) MV WINNER OF ELECTION LUIS CASTANEDA HUGGING HIS CHILDREN
  • Embargoed: 4th December 2002 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LIMA, PERU
  • Country: Peru
  • Topics: General,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA4T87Z06PT07VTQEG4W2RCBJGV
  • Story Text: The party of Peru President Alejandro Toledo was trounced in elections for leaders of new regional governments that will share power with the capital in an effort to help the Andean nation's impoverished areas, official results showed.
    Leading opposition party American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA) won 11 regional leadership seats on Sunday (November 17, 2002), while independent candidates secured 13, according to a partial count late from electoral agency ONPE.
    Toledo's party, Peru Posible, walked away with one seat in the vote to select 25 regional government heads and more than 1,800 mayors.
    Luis Castaneda, candidate for the center-right Unidad Nacional party, clinched the key mayorship of Lima, upsetting Alberto Andrade's shot for a second reelection.
    The pledge to mete out power in a nation nearly the size of Alaska, boasting thick jungles, snowcapped peaks and vast deserts, to help far-flung regions overcome poverty has been a cornerstone of Toledo's governing plan.
    But predicting defeat for Toledo in his first electoral test since he took office in July 2001, analysts warned that Toledo's ability to rule could be sapped as Lima shares powers with regional rivals as never before.
    Toledo's popularity has slid to nearly 20 percent as many in this poor nation, where 54 percent of people live on $1.25 or less a day, say he has yet to deliver on campaign pledges.
    Toledo began the Sunday Election Day optimistically as he cast his vote.
    "We are making a transcendental step in the reform of the state with this regional election and, as I said last night in my message, here hands are extended for the officials who were elected here today," he said.
    APRA's leader, former President Alan Garcia, said Peruvians had chosen candidates who appealed to them at a time of economic crisis.
    Politicians have clashed on what kind of powers new regional leaders should have, but all agree the task must be shouldered. Some 53 percent of Peru's gross domestic product comes from the seaside capital Lima, home to around a third of the 27 million population, while many in isolated provinces scrape out a living through subsistence agriculture.
    After criticizing a draft plan outlining the powers of new regional governments passed by Congress last week, Toledo reversed track on Saturday when he signed that plan into law.
    But he also submitted a draft law to Congress, which Solari said would be approved before the regional leaders take office on January 1, designed to make sure the new regional scheme is friendlier to the central government's wishes.
    Some economists worry that doling out power could make it harder for Toledo to stick to promises of tight fiscal discipline and could deter much-needed foreign investment as investors shy away from doing business directly with regions.
    But Economy Minister Javier Silva Ruete sought to ease those fears on Saturday, saying the government's proposed modifications would guarantee Lima the power to intervene in regions in moments of economic crisis.
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