Partial cabinet reshuffle, four ministers sacked . . . . Hardly an attention-grabbing headline for an administration now famous for announcing cabinet changes every few months. But the latest appointments – announced on February 9 – provide the Humala government with much-needed respite, with Prime Minister Ana Jara probably now safer in her job, at least for the next few months. They also may produce some shifts in policy.

Pressure on the government had been building up ever since the repeal of the so-called ‘Ley Pulpín’, a measure designed to introduce more flexible work contracts for youngsters between the ages of 18 and 24. Allegations of electronic eavesdropping on key politicians, including the vice-president Marisol Espinoza, had made matters worse, as had criticism of supposed corruption involving Humala’s former colleague, Martín Belaunde Lossio. Then came last week’s police repression of the protests at Pichanaki and the three-day ultimatum to Pluspetrol to suspend oil and gas exploration in this part of the central jungle area.

The first two of the four sacked ministers were particularly notable. Interior Minister Daniel Urresti had built up enmities within the government and opposition by using his position to promote himself as a possible law-and-order candidate for next year’s presidential elections. He routinely donned police uniforms to underline which side of the legal divide he stood on. He also used his Twitter account to engage in crude diatribes against Keiko Fujimori and Alan García, other possible candidates. Both Fujimori and García had demanded his resignation as the condition to enter into talks with the government. The actions of the police at Pichanaki (for which he was ultimately responsible) was the coup de grace for Urresti. He is replaced by a figure of a very different profile: José Luis Pérez Guadelupe, a sociologist with a masters in theology who has been (since 2011) head of the National Penitentiary Institute (INPE) and thus responsible for Peru’s jail population. A less pugnacious style at the interior ministry can be expected.

The second was Eleodoro Mayorga, the minister of energy and mines. From his original appointment, Mayorga had come under fire for supposed conflict of interest. He had previously been part of a team giving advice to Interoil, a Norwegian company that had acquired concessions in the Peruvian jungle. Latterly, he blotted his copybook for his role in the events at Pichanaki, not least among those who saw the decision to order Pluspetrol’s exit as simply a bid to save his skin. Again, his replacement is interesting. Rosa María Ortiz Ríos comes to the job having been head of the National Environmental Certification Service (Senace), an office that comes under the environment ministry and is responsible (at least in conjunction with the MEM) for the approval of Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs). Whether her appointment represents a shift towards a more pro-environment policy remains unclear.

Another minister to go was Daniel Figallo, the justice minister, who had been embroiled in the Belaunde Lossio scandal. The workings of the judiciary have come under ever more intense questioning, especially with respect to the so-called ‘La Centralita’ affair, another eavesdropping scandal involving top officials in Ancash region. Figallo is replaced by Fredy Otárola, a leading figure in Humala’s Gana Perú coalition, who has hitherto been labour minister. He faced an upcoming motion of censure in the Congress. Otárola is replaced in the labour ministry by his vice-minister, Daniel Maurate, who is himself under a cloud for having allegedly put false data on his CV when elected to Congress in 2011. The labour ministry will be responsible for producing a new youth employment bill.

Finally Carmen Ormonte was replaced as women’s affairs minister. Ormonte had run into problems over not paying her maid the proper labour benefits. But the real reason for her departure appears to have been the decision of Perú Posible (in which she is a prominent figure) to distance itself from the government in the run-up to next year’s elections. The new minister is Marcela Huaita, who has worked closely with Ana Jara, both when she was women’s minister and latterly as prime minister.

It is unlikely that this will be Humala’s last cabinet. The attacks against his government will continue (and probably with ever greater venom) as the 2016 elections draw closer. Key opposition candidates, particularly those on the right, will seek to outdo one another in the stridency of their attacks on the status quo, exploiting every possibility as they struggle for the hearts and minds of Peru’s profoundly dissatisfied voting public.