In the 2002 elections, most regional governments went to parties in opposition, with twelve going to the APRA and only one to Possible Peru, the party of president Alejandro Toledo. The combination of a strong opposition and a weak government led to concerns about an impending political crisis. However, this did not turn out to be the case as the new regional governments were absorbed by local problems and showed little initiative in national politics. As the territorial circumscriptions that regional governments inherited from the former departments are considered too small, the Decentralization Bases Law provides for mergers between departments after a majority of the populations involved express their approval up to become a formal region. The first referendum of this kind was carried out on October 30, 2005, with the following proposals being put to the ballot: