AMBASSADOR MEETS WITH OPPOSITION LEADERS, RECEIVES

C O N F I D E N T I A L LIMA 002241 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/18/2015 TAGS: PGOV PINS PREL PE SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR MEETS WITH OPPOSITION LEADERS, RECEIVES ASSURANCES THAT CONGRESS WILL NOT/NOT SPARK A CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS REF: A. LIMA 2222 ¶B. LIMA 2054 Classified By: Political Counselor Alexander Margulies. Reason: 1.4(d ). ¶1. (C) The Ambassador, on 5/18, met separately with APRA leader Alan Garcia and Unidad Nacional Legislative Bloc leader Xavier Barron (Unidad Nacional leader Lourdes Flores had agreed to meet the Ambassador but fell ill). According to both Garcia and Barron, the opposition parties in Congress will likely insist that votes be held on 5/19 on the three sanctions separately proposed by the three opposition members of the congressional Villanueva Committee in their report on fraud allegedly committed when President Alejandro Toledo's Peru Posible party was registered (Reftels): -- Committee Chairman Edgar Villanueva's (Peru Ahora) proposal to vacate the Presidency; -- Unidad Nacional's Barron's proposal to disqualify Toledo from holding office for ten years following conclusion of his term; and -- APRA's Victor Velarde's proposal to suspend Toledo until criminal investigations and proceedings against him have concluded (which would effectively run past the end of the President's term). Garcia and Barron, however, were emphatic that these proposals would all fail and that Congress would not/not spark a constitutional crisis with the Executive Branch. ¶2. (C) A follow-up cable on 5/19 will go into greater detail on these discussions, as well as the Ambassador's subsequent meeting with Prime Minister Carlos Ferrero. STRUBLE