The Perils of Political Disqualification
By Santiago Bedoya Pardo
On Thursday 3 April, the National Jury of Elections made public its decision to remove former president Martín Vizcarra from the membership register of his party, the ironically named Peru FirstThe Jury's decision is the practical application of the disqualifications imposed on Vizcarra by the Congress of the Republic, closing another door to his potential participation in the 2026 election.
The decision, however, could set an ominous precedent in a country with a sad tendency towards democratic erosion. I do not intend to defend Vizcarra, who, as is public knowledge, not only deceived millions of Peruvians by secretly vaccinating himself during the middle of the pandemic, but also by experimenting with the most basic freedom and rights in what turned out to be one of the worst pandemic management operations globally, claiming the lives of more than 200,000 Peruvians.
The legislature, in its quest to apply its own version of punitive justice against Vizcarra, could end up creating, in the long run, a martyr, making it easier for him to present himself as nothing more than the victim of a Congress that faces an undeniable crisis of legitimacy, with barely a single approval rating among Peruvians. Not only is he being handed a perfect script of victimisation, but additionally, a dangerous precedent of active and undeniably politically motivated intervention in the internal affairs of a political party is being set.
The alternative to this course of action, however, promises to be almost as unpopular with our representatives as they themselves are with their constituents. What do I mean? That, in order to kill the political plague supposedly caused by Vizcarra's demagogic discourse, those of us who oppose his project should be ready and willing to defeat him at the ballot box, not through the intrigues and legerdemain set in motion from the Legislative Palace. The electoral defeat of Vizcarrismo would make it possible, in a clear and transparent way, to purge his nefarious legacy from the popular imagination.
To put an end to the monster, it is not necessary to close the room without light, but rather to illuminate it. This principle applies equally to other figures who have been purged from the electoral race in recent months, figures whose political narratives and ideas he also rejected, as in the case of Antauro Humala. Without allowing these political forces to participate actively, their potential will always remain in the minds of both their co-religionists and the electorate as a ‘what could have been’. The promise of a possibility snatched away, of a lost future.
By allowing their electoral participation, thus facilitating public questioning of their ideas and fierce opposition to their projects, the real fight can be waged against them in the only forum that really matters in a representative democracy, the court of public opinion.
To cloud the use of reason with the fumes of ‘anti’ sentiment is to win a battle, but to risk winning the war. Quoting Goya, it is the sleep of reason that produces monsters. In order to exorcise the demons that afflict our republic, we must first confront them.
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