The Congress of Peru approved this Wednesday the bicameralism and immediate legislative re-election in the second and final votenecessary because it is a constitutional reform, despite the fact that these measures were rejected by more than 85% of Peruvians in a referendum that was held in 2018.
After the plenary session approved this bill on November 17 in the first vote, this Wednesday 91 congressmen voted in favor, thus exceeding the 87 votes necessary for it to be ratified and not have to go through a new referendum.
The approved proposal proposes to restore the Senate with a minimum of 60 senatorselected for a period of five yearsa Lower House with 130 deputies and their immediate re-election in office.
Congress recalled on social network X that since it is a constitutional reform, it cannot be observed by the Executive.
Any constitutional reform must be approved by Congress with an absolute majority of the legal number of its members, and ratified by referendum.
“Any constitutional reform must be approved by Congress with an absolute majority of the legal number of its members, and ratified by referendum. The referendum may be omitted when the agreement of Congress is obtained in two successive ordinary legislatures with a favorable vote, in each case, greater than two-thirds of the legal number of congressmen,” explained the Legislative.
Thus, starting in the next elections, Peruvians will have to elect the members of two legislative chambers, something that has not happened for more than 30 years, when the then president Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000) eliminated bicameralism a year after the 1992 self-coup and the Constituent Congress produced the current Magna Carta that established a unicameral legislative system.
“Today we have taken a historic step. This Bicentennial Congress has managed to approve the return to bicameralism, after extensive dialogue and consensus. This reform will allow better legislative quality, greater representation and will strengthen our democracy. Thanks to all the National Representation” , indicated the president of Parliament, Alejandro Soto, on the same social network.
The entire Fujimori Popular Force party, 22 congressmen, voted in favor of the initiative; the right-wing parties Alliance for Progress, Avanza País, Acción Popular and Podemos Perú, the ultra-conservative Renovación Popular, and some ungrouped congressmen.
The arguments they gave were mostly about the need for a better system of political representation and establishing an effective counterweight.
The 30 votes against corresponded to the parliamentarians of the Marxist Peru Libre party, the majority of the progressive Democratic Change-Together for Peru, some of the Magisterial Bloc and Peru Bicentenario and congressmen not grouped from the left.
Deputies who opposed this proposal recalled that Peruvian society already decided five years ago that they did not agree with it, and that approving it would be “turning our backs on the people,” as stated by parliamentarian Margot Palacios, from Peru Libre.
In a referendum that was held in December 2018 at the initiative of then-president Martín Vizcarra (2018-2020), 90% of Peruvians voted against the return of bicameralism and 85% rejected the possibility of re-election of congressmen. .
EFE
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