Peruvian President Ratifies Decree on April PollsPeru's new President Valentin Paniagua Corazao ratified December 2 a decree on scheduling next general elections for April 8, 2001.In the elections, president, vice presidents, and congress representatives will be chosen for the 2001-2006 term. After the short political vacuum caused by the resignation of former president Alberto Fujimori, Paniagua, a former parliament speaker, became the interim president of Peru late last month. Fujimori submitted his resignation while on a trip to Japan in November after he attended the eighth informal meeting of leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Brunei. But his resignation was brushed aside by the Congress, which, instead, sacked Fujimori on grounds of "moral incapacity" and later appointed Paniagua as the interim president. And a new cabinet, portrayed by media as "a group of technocrats able to lead the country until new presidential and parliamentary elections," was sworn in afterward. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/ |