Since Vizcarra lacks a party of his own and that Villanueva belongs to a small minority party, Alianza por el Progreso (APP), it is essential that the new administration negotiates with the parties in Congress, or at least their main leaders.

A vote of confidence in the new administration seems probable. Since the resignation of Pedro Pablo Kuczynski as president an unusual calm seems to have returned, with the Vizcarra enjoying a great deal more support than his immediate predecessor. How long this will last is, of course, a matter of debate. https://larepublica.pe/politica/1228032-tres-d-cuanto-dura-esta-calma

From the issues arising from the conversations that have been held, the new administration’s programme of government seems likely to focus on three main areas:

1. The campaign against corruption. On first taking office Vizcarra announced that this would be priority number one. The need to act on this front was also echoed in the Summit of the Americas whose main theme was challenging corruption and improving governance. The parties consulted also echo this priority, although some may be happier than others if a real and determined campaign to root out corruption from public life gets under way.

The problem of course is how to move from rhetorical commitments to action points and how to ensure that such action points are fully implemented. Corruption in recent years permeates public life, and is far from limited to the headline-grabbing crimes committed by Odebrecht. Several of Peru’s leading political parties are more clientelistic mafias than transparent representatives of the public interest. One measure that is essential to cleanse public life is a complete overhaul of the electoral and party systems, but this is not something that sits easily with the instinct for self-preservation for large sectors of the present Congress.

Areas that will be particularly important to watch are the effective independence of the public prosecutor’s office (Ministerio Público) and whether the new justice minister takes steps to clamp down on corruption in the judiciary and to improve the efficiency of the justice system as a whole.

2. Promoting economic growth. The signs already given by Vizcarra and his new minister for economy and finance are that this will involve encouraging private investment by removal (destrabar) of the barriers that have prevented this taking place. This sounds like more of the same. Can we therefore expect policies that deregulate mining investment by removal of environmental controls and that limit the rights of people to protest against new projects?

The influence of the private sector in Congress is strong and the voices of those who espouse policies that would give communities greater protection are relatively weak. Vizcarra has hinted at pursuing public investment with greater vigour, but this may fall victim to pressures on the new economy minister to reduce the fiscal deficit. The first victim of budget austerity is usually public investment.

3. Accelerating the work of reconstruction. Perhaps predictably, the speed with which reconstruction work got under way following last year’s disastrous flooding along the coast has lagged far behind what was promised and what people expected. Vizcarra has hinted that he will accelerate the process of reconstruction. However, this too will have to be reconciled with the need for austerity. It also hinges on the ability of regional governments in the areas most affected to handle the funds they have at their disposal both honestly and effectively.