Peru’s New Prime Minister Laid Out His Plan to a Congress That Cannot Vote Him Out
Peru · POLITICS
Key Facts
- —The date Prime Minister Luis Galarreta presented the 2026–2031 general government policy to the Chamber of Deputies on the morning of 20 August.
- —No confidence vote Under the reformed Article 130, the presentation no longer triggers a question of confidence. That is new, and it matters.
- —The centre of gravity Citizen security and organised crime, with more prison capacity and a larger role for the armed forces.
- —The legal edge On the same day, Defence Minister Rafael Belaunde said the executive will formally request delegated powers to amend Legislative Decree 1095 so criminal gangs can be treated as “hostile groups”.
- —The tax side Galarreta proposed simplifying small-business tax regimes and modernising customs rules. He named no figure for the exemptions under review.
- —The opposition line Deputies attacked the cabinet over homicide numbers, the retention of officials from previous governments, and a shortage of concrete measures.
Under Peru’s restored two-chamber Congress, the prime minister no longer has to win a confidence vote to survive the day. That changed the temperature of the debate more than it changed the content.
The Galarreta government programme is the first full statement of what President Keiko Fujimori intends to do with the mandate she took on 28 July. Prime Minister Luis Galarreta delivered it to the Chamber of Deputies on the morning of 20 August: more police, more prison places, a bigger role for the armed forces, and a tax overhaul. He delivered it to a chamber that, for the first time in a decade, could not bring him down for it.
What the constitutional change means
This is the first such presentation under Peru’s restored two-chamber Congress, and the mechanics matter more than they sound. Under the reformed Article 130 of the constitution, setting out the general government policy no longer carries a question of confidence with it. The Congress record puts it plainly: this presentation does not give rise to a question of confidence.
For anyone who followed Peruvian politics between 2016 and 2022, that is a significant change. The confidence vote was the device that repeatedly brought cabinets down and, in the other direction, gave presidents grounds to dissolve Congress. Removing it from this particular moment lowers the temperature of the first encounter between a new government and a new legislature.
It also lowers the stakes of the criticism. A cabinet that cannot be brought down by this debate has less reason to answer the hardest questions in it.
Security first, and the language of war
The core of the programme is citizen security. Peru has spent two years with extortion and contract killing at the top of the public agenda, and the government has responded with the vocabulary of confrontation rather than of policing.
The sharpest element is one Galarreta trailed on 11 August and that hardened on the day of the speech. Defence Minister Rafael Belaunde said the executive will formally ask Congress for delegated powers to amend Legislative Decree 1095, so that transnational criminal organisations can be designated “hostile groups” — a status close to the one used for terrorist organisations.
That is not a rhetorical flourish. It changes rules of engagement, detention powers and the role the armed forces can play in what is formally a policing task. Peru has used emergency powers this way before, in Lima and around Trujillo, with mixed results and recurring complaints about oversight.
More prison capacity is the other pillar. Peru’s prisons run far beyond design capacity, and building places is the least controversial part of the package — and the slowest.
The tax overhaul is the interesting half
Two things are proposed. The first is simplifying the regimes that small businesses fall under, which in Peru means untangling a set of overlapping schemes that push firms to stay small or stay informal. The second is modernising customs rules.
Galarreta attached no number to the exemptions a review would touch, and it is worth being careful about the figure that circulates alongside this debate. The finance ministry’s multiannual macroeconomic framework for 2026–2029 estimates potential tax expenditure of S/26.35 billion for 2026 — about US$7.9 billion, or 2.16% of GDP. That is an estimate prepared under the previous government of what exemptions cost, not a target this one has set.
It is still the most politically dangerous item in the programme. Exemptions have constituencies — regional, sectoral, agricultural — and every previous attempt to prune them has run into Congress. Announcing a review is easy. Naming which exemptions go is what costs votes.
What the opposition actually said
The attack was not about arithmetic. It was about the record.
Mirtha Vásquez turned the security agenda back on the governing party, pointing to what Fuerza Popular did with its strength in the outgoing Congress. Rossana Alayza put the sharpest line of the session: a government that spent twenty years preparing is asking not to be judged too hard after twenty days.
Deputies pressed the cabinet on more than a hundred homicides since the government took office, on the decision to keep police chief Óscar Arriola in post, and on the retention of other officials from previous administrations. The complaint was that the programme restated intentions the country has heard before without saying what changes on Monday.
The government does have an economic cushion. The central bank lifted its 2026 growth forecast to 3.4% in June, Moody’s went to 3.5% this month, mining investment is running well above last year and formal employment has been expanding. But a cushion is not a plan, and the programme did not attach costs to the security build-out it promises.
Why the Galarreta government programme matters to you
If you live in Peru, the security measures are the ones you will notice, and the question worth watching is whether “hostile groups” powers arrive with judicial oversight attached or without it. That is decided in the delegated-powers request, not in the speech.
If you run a business here, the tax reform is the file to track. A simplified small-business regime would be a genuine improvement for anyone operating below the threshold where full corporate accounting makes sense.
And if you invest in Peru, watch the follow-through rather than the programme. This government has a legislature it does not have to fight for its survival. That is a rare amount of room. What it does with it will be visible by the first budget.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did the Peruvian Congress vote on the Galarreta government programme?
No. Under the reformed Article 130 of the constitution, the presentation of general government policy to the new Chamber of Deputies no longer triggers a question of confidence. Galarreta set out the programme on 20 August 2026 without a confidence vote attached.
What is in the tax reform?
Simplifying the regimes that small businesses operate under, and modernising customs rules. Galarreta named no figure for tax exemptions. The finance ministry separately estimates potential tax expenditure of S/26.35 billion for 2026, about US$7.9 billion, in its 2026–2029 macroeconomic framework.
What are “hostile groups” powers?
On 20 August, Defence Minister Rafael Belaunde said the executive will ask Congress for delegated powers to amend Legislative Decree 1095, so transnational criminal organisations could be designated hostile groups. That would change rules of engagement and the role the armed forces can play in internal security.
Connected Coverage
Sources: Andina; Infobae; La República; El Peruano; Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas; Congreso de la República del Perú.
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