Peru's Vizcarra wins crushing referendum victory

Peruvian President Martín Vizcarra won overwhelming backing for his proposed political and judicial reforms in a weekend referendum that heralds the most sweeping changes to the country's constitution in decades.

Vizcarra, who has made a crackdown on corruption the centerpiece of his government since taking office in March, saw unusually near-unanimous results in a bitterly divided electorate where elections are traditionally won with margins of less than a percentage point.

About 23mn Peruvians approved stricter controls over how senior judges are chosen (87%), campaign financing reforms (85%) and banning congressional reelection (85.2%), while voters rejected a bicameral congress (85.1%) after Vizcarra withdrew his support for the proposal following changes introduced by the opposition; according to exit polls published by Ipsos Apoyo.

Vizcarra proposed the plebiscite, the country's first in 25 years, in the wake of a series of scandals including millions of dollars in bribes paid by Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht, and widespread influence-peddling by judges, cabinet ministers, congressmen and businessmen.

The highly publicized scandals and the resulting political and economic instability have eroded approval ratings of both congress and the judiciary. Opposition party Fuerza Popular, the largest political force in congress, said it will respect the results of the referendum.

"The people have voted massively to implement these decisions," Vizcarra said Sunday in broadcast comments from the presidential palace in Lima, where he awaited early returns with his cabinet. "We have to comply with this popular mandate. We will not let you down."

Odebrecht

Odebrecht, which in December 2016 admitted to paying hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes to secure contracts across Latin America, operated dozens of infrastructure concessions in Peru awarded by governments including those of former presidents Alejandro Toledo (2001-06), Alan García (2006-11) and Ollanta Humala (2011-16).

All three former heads of state, in addition to Vizcarra's predecessor Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and jailed opposition leader Keiko Fujimori, are under investigation for money laundering, charges they all deny.

The referendum outcome has strengthened Vizcarra's position versus Fujimori's Fuerza Popular party which ousted Kuczynski in March using its congressional majority, as the president heads into the second half of his government's five-year mandate, which ends in 2021.

However, a great deal of work still remains to be done to implement the four vaguely phrased proposals in the referendum into legislation, with an improved relationship with congress high on the priority list, according to think tanks.

"This is a vote of surprising support and the president was a fundamental factor," said political analyst Percy Medina. "This vote has been guided by the frustration, criticism and fury that the population feels for congress. But all the approved issues require a posterior legal process."

The last time Peruvians voted in a referendum in 1993, they approved a new constitution proposed by Ms Fujimori's father, then-president Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000) by 52-48%.

Then, as now, most Peruvians were found to have used the vote more to express support for the head of state rather than analyzing the issues at stake, according to analysts such as Fernando Tuesta, former head of electoral board ONPE.

"This underscores the rejection of politics and accompanies a president who has been legitimized in his efforts," Tuesta said. "People didn't vote with any great knowledge of the four proposals."