Overview
- On Thursday Josué Gutiérrez, the Defensor del Pueblo, said he believes dissolving the Chamber of Deputies would lift President Keiko Fujimori’s approval by about 20 to 30 percentage points and added he would not encourage such a move.
- Gutiérrez framed his comment as hypothetical and linked it to a broader diagnosis of an entrenched institutional crisis that, he said, requires extraordinary reforms and coordinated action across state agencies.
- Article 134 of the Peruvian Constitution limits any presidential dissolution of the Chamber of Deputies to cases where the chamber has censured or denied confidence to two Cabinets and requires new lower‑house elections within four months while the Senate cannot be dissolved.
- Lawmakers from Renovación Popular criticized Gutiérrez’s remarks and urged restraint, saying public officials should focus on cooperation and legislative work rather than statements that could deepen political tensions.
- No dissolution has been initiated and the remark has refocused public debate on legal limits, the newly reinstated bicameral Congress and the practical steps the Executive and Legislature must take to pursue the structural reforms Gutiérrez called for.