Former Wall Street banker Pedro Pablo Kuczynski was inaugurated as Peru's new president Thursday, vowing to kick-start the economy and unite a country torn by a photo-finish election. The 77-year-old center-right economist extended an olive branch to defeated rival Keiko Fujimori's party, which controls Congress, saying he would need their help to pass reforms.
And he promised to work for all Peruvians, outlining his vision for a "social revolution" in his inaugural address before Congress. "I will seek equity, equality and fraternity among all Peruvians," he said, vowing "not just economic, but human growth." The normally staid Kuczynski, who is known as a technocrat with a polished resume, choked up as he took the oath of office, then donned his new red-and-white presidential sash over his pinstriped suit.
Peru is one of Latin America's fastest-growing economies, but growth slowed under outgoing leftist president Ollanta Humala, from 6.5 percent in 2011 to 3.3 percent last year. Kuczynski vows to stimulate the economy, revive the key mining sector, fight the poverty that affects 22 percent of Peruvians, and strengthen the police and prisons to reduce crime.
Known simply as PPK, Kuczynski wants to extend basic services such as schools, hospitals and drinking water to the one-third of Peruvians who lack them. But his party, the center-right Peruvians for Change, has just 18 seats in the 130-member Congress. The new legislature is dominated by allies of Fujimori, the daughter of disgraced and jailed ex-president Alberto Fujimori. Her right-wing party, Popular Force, has 73 seats. That could make it hard for Kuczynski to advance his reform agenda.