The Peruvian president, Pedro Castillo, presented this Monday before the Congress a bill for a constitutional reform that allows the convening of a Constituent Assemblyas well as a referendum to consult citizens on whether they want a new Magna Carta.
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Through an official letter sent to the head of Parliament, María del Carmen Alva, and disseminated in local media, the president requested that this “urgent” legislative initiative be submitted for debate and vote before the plenary session of the hemicycle.
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He also asked that the proposal be consulted with the population through a referendum.
next October 2, when Peruvians will go to the polls to vote in municipal and regional elections.
The document specifies that it would ask: “Do you approve the call for a Constituent Assembly in charge of preparing a new political Constitution?”
Shortly after the text was known, the Prime Minister, Aníbal Torres, offered a press conference in which he explained that, to win the “yes” vote in the referendum, he will have to summon the Constituent Assembly, which will be in charge of drafting a new Magna Carta.
Torres insisted that neither President Castillo nor the members of his Government will draft “a single letter” of the possible new Constitution, as established in the project, which provides that during the drafting of the Magna Carta all the organizations “fully maintain their functions, powers and attributions”.
He explained that the Constituent Assembly would be made up of 130 people, would be “plurinational” in nature, and 40% of the representatives would come from political organizations, while 30% would be independent candidates, 26% members of indigenous peoples, and the remaining 4% from Afro-Peruvian communities.
“Everyone will be democratically elected and not appointed by hand,” said Torres, who in an apparent message to his opponents said that “nobody who calls himself a liberal can try to limit the freedom of the population to express their will through a referendum.”
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Head of Congress rejects call for referendum
The head of the Congress of Peru, the opposition María del Carmen Alva, rejected President Pedro Castillo’s proposal to convene a popular consultation on a new Constitutionand accused him of wanting to turn the country into a new Cuba or Venezuela.
The left-wing president announced on Friday that, “following the constitutional course,” he will send a project to Congress so that citizens can be consulted in the local elections in October if they want a new Magna Carta.
The National Elections Jury (JNE) stated that the calling of a referendum on a constitutional change requires the prior approval of Congress by an absolute majority. But Alva considered in declarations to journalists that Castillo’s proposal is “unconstitutional” and “unfeasible.”
He added that the government could be the subject of “a complaint” before the courts if it proposes a constitutional referendum.
“We are trying to make sure that this does not become either Cuba or Venezuela,” he said, and accused Castillo of trying to “close” the parliament, controlled by the right-wing opposition.
“The objective of this government is to close Congress. Without Congress there is no democracy,” he said.
Alva said that “any total or partial constitutional reform goes through Congress; according to the Constitution, there is no possibility for the Executive to convene a Constituent Assembly.”
During the campaign that brought him to power nine months ago, Castillo promised to convene a Constituent Assembly.
The ruling party blames the current Constitution, enacted in 1993 by then President Alberto Fujimori, for being responsible for the economic inequities suffered by Peru, since it enshrines a free market model.
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We are trying to prevent this from becoming either Cuba or Venezuela
Castillo’s initiative comes at a time when protests are taking place over the rise in food and fuel prices, in the context of the war in Ukraine.
To this is added that his popularity is at its lowest level with a record disapproval of 76% in April, according to an Ipsos survey, although the rejection of Congress is higher, standing at 79%.
Castillo is a 52-year-old rural teacher who, as the candidate of a small Marxist-Leninist party, won the presidency in 2021 after a close runoff against the right-wing Keiko Fujimori, eldest daughter of the former president (1990-2000).
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
*With information from EFE and AFP
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