Congress: in less than a year, Peru Libre was divided into three benches

In less than twelve months, the party Free Peru (PL) has gone on to have three benches. The first wave of dissidence was on December 16, when the cerronista congressmen did not support the motion of censure against the president of Congress, María del Carmen Alva, promoted by legislator Guillermo Bermejo. This caused Guillermo to resign from PL. With him went the pro-government parliamentarians Hamlet Echevarría, Luis Kamiche and Betssy Chávez, who later formed the Democratic Peru caucus.

The second was last Tuesday, after the distribution of the plenary session of Congress to elect the new magistrates of the Constitutional Court (TC), when 10 legislators representing Fenate – Peru left the ruling party to form his Magisterial Bloc in Parliament.

YOU CAN SEE: Ugarte, Quiroz, Vásquez, Paredes and Tacuri resign from Peru Libre after the election of TC magistrates

With this, so far this period of government, Peru Libre has lost 15 congressmen. With the recent dissidence, the ruling party was left with 22 parliamentarians and ceased to be the first minority in Congress – (now it is Popular Force).

What does this imply for the official forces?

First, with the new bench of the Magisterial Bloc will change the composition of the ordinary commissions. They will have to have their share.

Second, the magisterial block, when it is formalized as a bench, it will have its own voice in the Board of Spokespersons, where the inclusion of issues to the plenary session of the Congress is defined or other relevant decisions are addressed.

Last vote on members of the Constitutional Court again broke what was the bench of Peru Libre. Photo: composition/The Republic

While, the left continues to retain its 44 votes – from Peru Libre, Bloc Magisterial, Peru Democrático and Cambio Democrático- to stop any attempt at a presidential vacancy.

YOU CAN SEE: Silvana Robles on the election of TC magistrates: “Today a heavy blow was dealt against democracy”

Legislative sources said that this is one of the main reasons for the recent dissent from the ruling party: the congressmen of the teaching profession want to move by their side in the commissions and aspire to preside over the Education Commission, which is one of those that they requested from the beginning of this period, but which was not achieved due to poor negotiation by the then representatives of Peru Libre in those negotiations, Waldemar Cerrón and Guido Bellido, and in the end it was ceded to Esdras Medina, of People’s Renewal.

Likewise, as congressman and professor Edgar Tello told La República, Another reason is that the Teachers’ Party is on the way to formalizing its registration. Let us remember that, since last year, Fenate – Peru has been processing the registration of its own political group.

In this scenario, Tello added, the president peter castle will have to decide which is the government party really. Castillo, in theory, is more linked to teachers.

YOU CAN SEE: Officialism and opposition united again: Cerrón and Montoya reject press access to Congress

It is not yet clear whether these dissidences harm the government. Mathematically, for now, no. In fact, Peru Libre and the Bloc Magisterial have coincidences: they are against the vacancy, they support the Constituent Assembly, they vote in favor of electoral and university counter-reforms, they lend themselves to handouts, as in the election of the new TC this week (see table of how the Magisterial Bloc voted).

that you know Vladimir Cerronwho tweeted that, Despite these divisions in the ruling party, both groups support the president.

Another relevant point for teachers congress is that now they can aspire, without depending on Cerrón, to a quota of power in the government. They had it at the time with Iber Maraví, in the Ministry of Labor, but it did not prosper.

Third faction. Yesterday, the teachers’ congressmen explained why they left Peru Libre, a party that has already lost 15 congressmen each. Photo: Congress

For now, there is even the possibility that this group of congressmen – professors will increase. Legislator Francis Paredes said that five more resignations from Peru Libre are coming. Tello doesn’t rule it out either.

At a press conference yesterday, Alex Paredes, another of the dissidents, pointed out other reasons for the separation: 1) to be consistent in their convictions and 2) governability. It is false that the resignations were due to the distribution of the TC. This separation between cerronistas and the teachers had been decided a month ago, according to congresswoman Katty Ugarte.

some in the cerronismolike legislator Alex Flores, describe this decision as extremist.