Congress of the Republic of Peru

Coordinates: 12°02′53″S 77°01′30″W / 12.04806°S 77.02500°W / -12.04806; -77.02500

The Congress of the Republic of Peru (Spanish: Congreso de la República) or the National Congress of Peru (Spanish: Congreso Nacional del Perú) is the unicameral body that assumes legislative power in Peru.

The congress consists of 130 members (congresistas), who are elected for five-year periods in office on a proportional representation basis. To be eligible, candidates must be Peruvian citizens, have passed their 25th birthday, and not have had their right to vote suspended. The last congressional election was held on April 10, 2011, concurrently with the presidential election.

Since July 26, 2014, the President of Congress is Luis Iberico, of the Alliance for Progress party.

Currently, the Peruvian congress congregates at the Palacio Legislativo, which is located in the Historical Center of Lima, across the road from Plaza Simón Bolívar and a few blocks away from Casa de Pizarro.

Xi Jinping

Xi Jinping (pronounced [ɕǐ tɕînpʰǐŋ], Chinese: 习近平; born 15 June 1953) is the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, the President of the People's Republic of China, and the Chairman of the Central Military Commission. As Xi holds the top offices of the party and the military, in addition to being the head of state through the office of president, he is sometimes informally referred to as China's "paramount leader". As general secretary, Xi is also an ex-officio member of the Politburo Standing Committee, China's top decision-making body.

Son of communist veteran Xi Zhongxun, Xi Jinping rose through the ranks politically in China's coastal provinces. He served as the governor of Fujian between 1999 and 2002, then as governor and party secretary of the neighboring Zhejiang between 2002 and 2007. Following the dismissal of Chen Liangyu, Xi transferred to Shanghai as the party secretary for a brief period in 2007. Xi joined the Politburo standing committee and central secretariat in October 2007, and was Hu Jintao's successor. He served as vice-president, between 2008 and 2013.

White House

The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States, located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C. It has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800.

The house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia Creek sandstone in the Neoclassical style. When Thomas Jefferson moved into the house in 1801, he (with architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe) expanded the building outward, creating two colonnades that were meant to conceal stables and storage. However, in 1814, during the War of 1812, the mansion was set ablaze by the British Army in the Burning of Washington, destroying the interior and charring much of the exterior. Reconstruction began almost immediately, and President James Monroe moved into the partially reconstructed Executive Residence in October 1817. Construction continued with the addition of the South Portico in 1824 and the North in 1829.

List of Presidents of Peru

Established in the Constitution of 1993, the President of Peru, officially the President of the Republic (Presidente de la República), is the head of state and head of government of Peru and represents the republic in official international matters. The presidential term is five years, with no immediate reelection. A former president can run again after being out of office for a full term.Ollanta Humala was elected as president in 2011.

The change of government takes place on July 28, which is the date of independence from Spain and thus a national holiday.

History

During its more than 180 years of independence, Peru has been ruled by the military leaders who fought for independence, the leaders of the War of the Pacific, representatives of the aristocracy, and democratically-elected leaders. Also, the history of the presidency has involved civil wars, coups and violence. More than once, several individuals claimed the right to be president at the same time.

Different titles have been used, such as "Protector of Peru" (used by José de San Martin), and "Supreme Protector" (by Andrés de Santa Cruz).

Pedro Pablo Kuczynski

Pedro Pablo Kuczynski Godard (born October 3, 1938), better known simply as PPK, is a Peruvian public administrator, economist, and politician. He was Prime Minister of Peru from 2005 to 2006.

Kuczynski worked in the United States before entering Peruvian politics. He served as Minister of Energy and Mines in the early 1980s under President Fernando Belaúnde Terry, and as Minister of Economy and Finance and Prime Minister under President Alejandro Toledo in the 2000s.

Kuczynski was a presidential candidate in the 2011 Peruvian presidential election, coming in third place. His opponents Ollanta Humala Tasso and Keiko Fujimori went on to the June 5, 2011 runoff election, in which Humala was elected.

Early life and career before politics

Kuczynski is of Polish and Jewish descent. He is the son of Maxime Hans Kuczynski born near Poznań, who was one of the earliest public health leaders in Peru. He received his early education at Markham College in Lima, Peru, and Rossall School in Lancashire, England. He won a foundation scholarship to study at Exeter College, Oxford and graduated with a degree in politics, philosophy and economics in 1960. Later, he received the John Parker Compton fellowship to study public affairs at Princeton University in the United States, where he received a master's degree in 1961. He began his career at the World Bank in 1961 as a regional economist for six countries in Central America, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.