Former Presidential candidate Alejandro Toledo urged the Opposition's newfound congressional majority to end President Alberto Fujimori's reign in office and set up a transitional government until elections can be held.

“Our position is that to wait until July 2001 to have a new president is a costly agony that Peru cannot afford,” Toledo told reporters on Wednesday.
Fujimori, who for a decade has ruled with an iron hand, announced Sept 16 that he would call new elections in which he would not be a candidate. He said that he would turn over power on July 28, 2001.

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“The decision was prompted by a corruption scandal surrounding his spy chief, Vladimiro Montesinos, who was captured on videotape apparently bribing an opposition Congressman to defect to Fujimori's ranks.

Fujimori had seemed intent on calling the shots in Peru's political transition and maneuvering a candidate of his choosing into the presidential palace next July.

But Toledo, who boycotted a presidential runoff against Fujimori in May, saying it was being rigged, said, “Opposition forces should formally assume leadership of the legislature and seek the President's immediate ouster.”

Bureau Report