“The decisions will not be made by the president, but will be managed jointly with the Board of Directorsthe parliamentary benches in the weakening instances,” said the New President of Congress, Eduardo Salhuana, from Alliance for Progress (APP)yesterday, in his speech before the House of Representatives, after being elected with 95 votes in favour of his allies.
Meanwhile, the El Foco portal posted a photo of a WhatsApp conversationwhere he Congressman Esdras Medina informs the APP leader, Richard Acuñawho voted in favor of Salhuana’s list, but asked him to consider Popular Renewal for the presidency of the Budget Commission.
“Richard, good morning. I just gave my support (…) Let’s see if you consider Renewal and can give it a Budget and we can work together,” Medina wrote. Acuña replied: “Granting a Budget will be complicated at this time.”
As is known, it has transpired that former congressman Richard Acuña and the general secretary of Fuerza Popular, Luis Galarreta, participated in the conversations so that the coalition calling itself the Democratic Bloc, could agree on which list to present for the new MDC.
Constitutional lawyer Beatriz Ramírez wrote regarding the chat between Medina and Acuña: “Exchange of votes for the particular interest of those who are in charge of power today, not for the general interest that they should represent.”
Eduardo Salhuana assumed the presidency on July 26. Photo: Congress
Distribution of commissions in Congress
It is true that decisions are not made solely by the new President of Congressbut it is also true that it will be the coalition that brought him to power who will impose the distribution of the coveted commissions for his allied benches and Popular Renewal has not been considered, until now.
On Thursday 25th, uncomfortable, the congresswoman of this group Norma Yarrowannounced that he would vote blank and would become the opposition. His colleague Medina’s chat shows that this was not a position taken by the entire Popular Renewal Party.
With the apepist Eduardo Salhuana in the presidency, the Congresswoman of Fuerza Popular, Patricia Juárezin the first vice presidency; Waldemar Cerronfrom Peru Libre, in the second; and Alejandro Cavero, from Avanza País, in the third. Congress repeats for another year the formula that will pull the strings.
Lawyer Diego Pomareda recalls the counter-reforms that these four groups supported when they managed the Board of Directors in the period 2023 – 2024: the anti-forestry law, the law that favors illegal mining, the law that weakens effective collaboration, the statute of limitations on crimes, the law that eliminates mandatory primary elections, the election of the new Constitutional Court (TC), the election of the Ombudsman and the disqualification of the magistrates of the National Justice Board (JNJ), Inés Tello and Aldo Vásquez.
This coalition of four benches – APP, FP, Peru Libre and Avanza País – and the other four that supported them in this election – Somos Perú, Podemos Perú, Acción Popular and Bloque Magisterial – will set the tone for the distribution of the ordinary, special and investigative commissions of this Congress, because they have enough votes to prevail in the Board of Spokespersons.
APP will also maintain the presidency of the Subcommission on Constitutional Accusations (SAC)where I know shielded Dina Boluarte for the case of deaths in proteststwo constitutional complaints were filed against the president of the National Elections Jury (JNE), Jorge Salas Arenas, and the disqualification of Tello and Vásquez was promoted.
People’s Force will not give up the presidency of the Constitutional Commission: There are pending bills to change the method of electing the president of the JNEreforming the Magna Carta to be able to accuse electoral authorities and the elimination of the JNJ. He will also not leave the Foreign Relations Commission, where the law against NGOs was promoted.
While Peru Libre would be interested in continuing to lead the Justice Commission and Avanza País in the Ethics Commission.
The parties that supported the APP – Fuerza Popular formula, such as Somos Perú, Podemos Perú and Acción Popular, would aspire to the Decentralization, Budget and Economy commissions, respectively.
They will maintain control of important offices
The parliamentarian Flower Paul He warned that everything is negotiated. “As long as this majority has absolute control of Congress, they will continue to destroy institutions and reduce our rights. Today the country is governed by the alliance of Fujimori, Acuña, Cerrón and their allies. “They are stealing our children’s future!” he exclaimed.
The assumption of this new Board of Directors It also implies that the APP, FP, Peru Libre and Avanza País alliance will continue to manage key offices in Congress.
In the previous administration, APP appointed in the General Directorate of Congress Administration to his former congresswoman Marisol Espinoza and then that role was assumed by Carlos Luis País Vera, with a salary of S/ 26,277.21.
Since July 2022, Fuerza Popular has not left the first vice presidency, which has powers over the Congress Publishing Fund and the Office of Citizen Participationcurrently led by former Fujimori congresswomen Milagros Takayama and Karina Beteta, with salaries of S/ 19,277.11.
Peru Libre, with the second vice presidency, will have powers in the Office of International Cooperation of Congress. In the previous administration, they hired Carina Palacios Quincho, a former ambassador of Pedro Castillo’s government, as head of that office, with a salary of S/ 19,277.11.
And Avanza País in the third vice presidency will maintain its powers over the Liaison Office with Regional and Local Governments and the Office of Legislative Quality.
Eduardo Salhuana and his vice presidents Patricia Juárez, Waldemar Cerrón and Alejandro Cavero will be on the Board of Directors for a whole year.
Cavero’s predecessor and fellow party member, Rosselli Amuruz, is being investigated for incompatible negotiations, precisely because when she was third vice president she hired Alejandra García Oviedo, sister of her partner, former congressman Paul García.
The Board of Directors also approves bonuses, travel and per diem expenses for parliamentarians and supplementary credit budgets for Congress.
This is the power that APP, Fujimori and their allies now have.
He asked for video records after chat photo
At the time of writing this article, Congressman Esdras Medina urgently requested from the Chief Clerk of Congress a copy of the footage from the various security cameras in the Congress chamber during the session for the election of the new Board of Directors. La República asked his office if this request was to identify the reporter who took the photo from the congressman’s cell phone, but there was no response.
Sentence against Salhuana ignored
This Friday, La República reported that Congressman Eduardo Salhuana has a sentence against him for child support dating back to 2007. He declared this information when he ran in the 2021 general elections. But it was already too late.
In the other block, list 2, presented by the Socialist Party, with Congresswoman Silvana Robles for the presidency, only obtained the support of 16 legislators. The agreement between the parliamentary coalition prevailed.
