MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Peruvian president anticipates “electoral crisis” but promises stability

Alan García, a gifted speaker and talented politician always on the brink

Peruvian president Alan García forecasted an “electoral crisis” in 2010 because of the political appetites of the opposition, but promised Peru will successfully overcome the situation it as it has done with the global economic turbulences.

The capital Lima and Peruvian regions are preparing for next October municipal elections, a process which will give political parties a primary picture of the political scenario for the presidential elections of the first half of 2011.

García who was elected in 2006 for five years is barred from a second consecutive mandate, but his party APRA, one of the oldest of the country, will be presenting its own candidate for the 2011 dispute.

“2009 was the ‘economic crisis’ year, this year is the ‘electoral crisis’ that so much worries certain minds and so many appetites has triggered and generated so many disorders”, said Garcìa during a political rally where he announced a universal health insurance for the lowest income Peruvians.

Garcia has been strongly criticized lately over controversial public opinion polls contracted by his party, allegedly financed by private contributors, which give a disorderly picture of the Peruvian political scenario but the opposition insists they were financed with public funds.

The results of the Ipso-Apoyo poll according to García show that the mayor of Lima, Luis Castañeda leads presidential electoral preferences for 2011 with 23% support followed closely by the daughter of former president Alberto Fujimori, lawmaker Keio Fujimori with 20%. A distant third figures the most visible opposition personality: ultranationalist Ollanta Humala with 11%.

Humala a close ally of Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez caused grave concern among foreign investors when he almost becomes president in the run-off with Garcia in 2006, promising to end the free market policies which have brought billions of US dollars in investments to the country.

“I’d like to tell the Peruvian people: don’t let yourselves be duped by the political rattling; don’t fear the apparent current confusion, it’s a bubble, a mess of appetites simply to see who’s first and who gets the spotlight or the best front page photo”, said García.

“If in 2009 we managed to overcome successfully the global downturn, which was terrible, this year we’ll manage to slip swiftly by the electoral crisis of appetites”, he added.

President’s García’s approval rating is a squalid 29% mainly because a majority of the population feels they have not benefited from the strong boost of the Peruvian economy that has been expanding steadily since early century, including last year when it managed to avoid the recession and register positive growth.