Peru president unveils new bill for 2023 election amid Congress infighting

3/2/2023 7:00

        Peruvian President Dina Boluarte has put forward a new bill to bring elections forward to 2023 in a bid to calm protests around the country as a fractured
        Congress has repeatedly failed to come to an agreement after weeks of political infighting.
        
        The bill, seen by Reuters, proposes holding congressional and presidential elections in October this year with elected officials taking power in late December. Elected officials would serve a five year term until July 2028.
        
        The Andean country is in the grip of some eight weeks of anti-government protests with 48 people killed in clashes between demonstrators and security forces, mostly in Peru's copper-rich south. Fast new elections has been a key demand of protesters after former left-wing President Pedro Castillo was
        ousted in December.