The Peruvian Congress agreed to discuss a third project to advance the general elections to October 2023, following the legislature rejected two other initiatives.
The Peruvian Congress agreed this Wednesday to discuss a new project to advance the general elections to October 2023, a third initiative which, in this case, includes a consultation on a constituent assembly and which was presented by the Marxist party Perú Libre minutes following the rejection of another legislative initiative.
Congressman Jaime Quito Sarmiento, from Perú Libre, called for the Peruvian people to be allowed to decide whether or not they want a new constitution, since, from his party, “they have listened to the streets” and today more than ever they consider that the opinion of Peruvians should not be ignored.
The plenary session of the Peruvian Congress rejected this Wednesday with 54 votes in favor, 68 once morest and 2 abstentions.a bill that proposes holding general elections in 2023 to elect a new president and deputies, one of the main claims of the anti-government protests, together with the call for a constituent assembly.
Quito expressed in the face of strong tension in plenary session that the long debates in Congress have not been able to reach an agreement among parliamentarians on the dates of the advance, but that this is not enough for what the streets are clamoring for.
“There is no imposition on our part,” Quito said regarding the proposal for a consultation so that Peruvians vote if they want a constituent assembly or not, and said that those who “consider themselves to be democrats have to return power to the people.”
Constituent Assembly
The call for a constituent assembly that conforms to a new magna carta in Peru was an electoral promise by former President Pedro Castillo, and one of the main proclamations that protesters have clamored in anti-government protests since the beginning of December.
“If they are once morest that, it was left there, but if they agree for a new constitution, the people must be listened to,” said the congressman from Peru Libre, the party that just brought Castillo to the presidency.
“An electoral perspective is not a proposal for change in the country,” said the congressman from the same party, Falvio Cruz, following the plenary session, who reiterated that “the problem in Peru is not circumstantial, it is structural” and that the country needs major changes that they would only come hand in hand with a new constitution.
The president of the Congress, José Williams announced the closure of the parliamentary session following Quito’s words provoked new requests from other congressmen and a climate of tension and shouting.
Thus, the vote on this new electoral advance bill will be from 10 in the morning (15:00 GMT) this Thursday, although Quito is expected to ask for more time for negotiations with other benches and get it approved. with the necessary 87 votes.
