(Bloomberg) -- Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra’s decision to dissolve Congress to end a long-running political feud over fighting corruption has made him the country’s most popular leader in more than three decades.

Vizcarra’s approval rating soared to 82% from 52% last month, according to a poll by Lima-based Datum Internacional poll published in Gestion and Peru21 newspapers on Thursday. His decision to shut the legislative body was supported by 85% of those questioned while 74% said it will be beneficial for the country.

Thousands of Peruvians celebrated in the streets after Vizcarra told the Andean nation Sept. 30 that he was invoking his constitutional right to dissolve Congress and calling new parliamentary elections. While some opposition lawmakers said the move amounted to a coup and plan to fight it in the courts, his surging popularity underlines the public repudiation of Peru’s political parties following a series of corruption scandals.

Read More: Peruvians Celebrate Shuttered Congress, Ignoring Ugly Precedent

The president is quickly building on his increasing popularity to regain power and send a message of normality after last week’s political crisis. On Thursday he is hosting Chilean President Sebastian Pinera, the first foreign dignitary visiting the country since the dissolution, after swearing in a new ministerial team Oct. 3.

Vizcarra’s surging job approval is also a reminder of the country’s penchant for a strongman. Alberto Fujimori’s decision to shut Peru’s Congress in 1992 was also hugely popular, though his methods were heavy-handed and far from constitutional.

Fujimori said Congress was obstructing his government’s fight against terrorists groups. He sent soldiers and tanks to close the parliament, assumed all legislative and judicial powers and suspended much of the constitution. A new constitution approved in 1993 included an article allowing the president to dissolve Congress should the government lose two votes of confidence, which Vizcarra invoked to justify his decision.

Fujimori’s popularity rose 11 percentage points in the month after he closed Congress in April 1992 and peaked at 81% five months later with the capture of the head of guerrilla group Shining Path, according to Datum figures.

The 2018 Latinobarometro public opinion poll placed Peru as the Latin American nation that least trusts its parliament, with approval of just 8% of the population.

To contact the reporter on this story: John Quigley in Lima at jquigley8@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Juan Pablo Spinetto at jspinetto@bloomberg.net, Robert Jameson

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