A LAW passed by the Peruvian Congress yesterday gives President Alberto Fujimori the opportunity to become one of Latin America's longest serving democratically elected presidents.
The law states that a bar on any president serving more than two consecutive terms cannot be applied retrospectively. This means that since Mr Fujimori's first election in 1990 occurred before the 1993 constitution, he is free to stand for a third five year term in the next election in 2000.
While opposition members claim the new law violates the constitution, the measure was carried by 70 votes to three. Six years after coming from nowhere to beat the novelist Mr Mario Vargas Llosa for the Peruvian presidency, Mr Fujimori continues to surprise.
He retains a popularity rating of more than 60 per cent and commands the kind of loyalty that means legislators were prepared to change the law twice in four years to enable him to stay in power.
The law was first altered after Mr Fujimori's so called auto coup in 1992 when he dissolved parliament. A new elected body rewrote the constitution to permit a president to be re elected once, a change narrowly approved by referendum.
International risk rating agencies now say the greatest question mark about Peru is the intense concentration of power in one man's hands.
Mr Alfredo Torres, of the Apoyo market research company, said Mr Fujimori owed much to the failure of his predecessor, Mr Alan Garcia, who left office amid economic chaos and allegations of corruption.
Mr Fujimori has also been helped by the absence of alternative leaders. Mr Vargas Llosa left Peru and adopted Spanish nationality. Former United Nations secretary general, Dr Javier Perez de Cuellar, was seen as too old, too distant and unforceful when he took Mr Fujimori on in 1995. Mr Fujimori was re elected with 64 per cent of the vote.
In power, Mr Fujimori has been at best heavy handed, but his decisions, notably the auto coup and the introduction of harsh military trials for those suspected of subversion, have struck a chord with Peruvians weary of hyper inflation and guerrilla attacks.
According to Mr Torres, "Peru has a long autocratic tradition that means someone like Fujimori, who takes hard decisions, who leads, is attractive."
The son of Japanese immigrants, Mr Fujimori has also used his racial roots to his advantage, since the majority of Peru's Indian or mixed race people identify more easily with him than with the white elite.