GOVERNMENT
The president
is popularly elected for a 5-year term. A constitutional amendment
passed in 2000 prevents reelection. The first and second vice
presidents also are popularly elected but have no constitutional
functions unless the president is unable to discharge his duties.
The principal executive body is the presidentially-appointed Council
of Ministers, comprised of 15 members and headed by a prime minister.
All presidential decree laws or draft bills sent to Congress must
be approved by the Council of Ministers.
The legislative
branch consists of a unicameral Congress of 120 members. In addition
to passing laws, Congress ratifies treaties, authorizes government
loans, and approves the government budget. The president has the
power to block legislation with which the executive branch does
not agree.
The judicial
branch of government is headed by a 16-member Supreme Court seated
in Lima. The Constitutional Tribunal interprets the constitution
on matters of individual rights. Superior courts in departmental
capitals review appeals from decisions by lower courts. Courts
of first instance are located in provincial capitals and are divided
into civil, penal, and special chambers. The judiciary has created
several temporary specialized courts in an attempt to reduce the
large backlog of cases pending final court action. In 1996 a human
rights Ombudsman's office was created.
Peru is divided into 25 regions. The regions are subdivided into provinces, which are composed of districts. High authorities in the regional and local levels are elected. The country's latest decentralization program is in hiatus after the proposal to merge departments was defeated in a national referendum in October 2005.
POLITICAL
CONDITIONS
On June 4, 2006, APRA candidate Alan García Pérez was elected to the presidency by 52.5% of the voters in his runoff with Ollanta Humala, who ran under the Union for Peru, with the support of his Peruvian Nationalist Party. With 36 seats, APRA has the second largest bloc--next to the Union for Peru Party's 45 seats--in the 120-seat unicameral Congress which was sworn in July 2006. After a disappointing presidential term from 1985 to 1990, García returned to the presidency with promises to improve Peru's social condition, balancing economic stability with increased social spending. His stated primary goal is to decrease poverty through job creation, especially in Peru's southern highlands where poverty is most acute. He has sought to improve relations with Peru's South American neighbors and with the United States, and to present Peru's democratic and pro-free trade path as a model for the region.
Principal
Government Officials
President--Alan GARCIA Pérez
First Vice President--Luis GIAMPIETRI Rojas
Second Vice President--Lourdes MENDOZA del Solar
President of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister)--Jorge DEL CASTILLO Galvez
Foreign Affairs Minister--José García Belaúnde
Finance and Economy Minister--Luis CARRANZA Ugarte
Defense Minister--Allan WAGNER Tizón
Minister of the Interior--Pilar MAZZETTI Soler
Ambassador to the United States--Felipe Ortiz de Zevallos
Permanent Representative to the United Nations--Oswaldo DE RIVERO
Ambassador to the Organization of American States--María Zavala
Peru maintains
an embassy in the United States at 1700 Massachusetts Avenue,
NW, Washington, DC 20036 (tel. 202-833-9860/67, consular section:
202-462-1084). Peru has consulates in New York; Paterson, NJ;
Miami; Chicago; Houston; Los Angeles; San Francisco; Boston; Denver
and San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Type: Constitutional republic.
Independence: July 28, 1821.
Constitution: December 31, 1993.
Branches: Executive--President, two Vice Presidents, and a Council of Ministers led by a Prime Minister. Legislative--Unicameral Congress. Judicial--Four-tier court structure consisting of Supreme Court and lower courts.
Administrative divisions: 25 departments subdivided into 180 provinces and 1,747 districts.
Political parties: Alianza Popular Revolucionaria Americana (APRA), National Unity (UN), Peru Posible (PP), Popular Action (AP), Union for Peru (UPP), Solucion Popular, Somos Peru (SP).
Suffrage: Universal and mandatory for citizens 18 to 70.
