How useful is the formation of special investigative commissions in this Congress?

Last Thursday, March 31, the plenary session of the Congress approved the extension of the term for 20 business days to deliver the final report of the 2021 Elections Investigative Commission, in charge of finding out if there was an alleged fraud in the second round, which gave Pedro Castillo the presidential winner.

As far as the Republic knew, who agreed to the preliminary reportthe research group chaired by Jorge Montoya It has not been able to conclude or demonstrate the alleged irregularities in the general elections last year, despite the fact that it has cost the Legislature more than S / 150,000 in advisory payments.

Nevertheless, with the votes of 53 congressmen, compared to 52 who opposed, The commission will have an extension to close the chapter on the alleged fraud.

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Apart from this authorization, that day, on the agenda of the Parliamentit was planned resolve 13 motions that requested the formation of investigative commissions for different cases, among which is the one that will seek to determine if the Executive complied with the decontamination commitments of the Ventanilla sea due to the oil spill.

If each one of them is approved, they would generate more expenses to the Legislative power of the State. In that sense, how useful is the formation of special investigative commissions in this Congress?

Political scientist Arturo Maldonado, from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP), pointed out that one of the tasks of the Parliament is that of control, which is legitimized by the Constitution. However, he considered that investigative commissions such as the one chaired by Congressman Montoya, who is trying to investigate a case that has already been dismissed, undermine this function.

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In this regard, he commented that the activation of an investigative commission causes high costs for Congress. Therefore, he pointed out that, if it does not fulfill its objective, which is to prove its findings, public opinion may see it as a waste of public funds.

“From an external perspective, commissions are expensive. This commission (of the alleged fraud), as far as I understand, has cost S / 200,000 in advisors and personnel that he has been looking for. In the eyes of the public, they are commissions that spend and even waste public funds that could be used for better things”, The specialist told La República.

Even the PUCP political scientist suggested that the budget assigned to the specialized working groups be allocated to the ordinary commissions so that they can be better equipped.

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Similarly, José Elice, the former senior officer of the Congress and a specialist in parliamentary issues, told this newspaper that the investigation is an attribution that Parliament has and is one of the most important functions to carry out political control.

“The investigation is an attribution of Congress that is provided for in the Constitution. This is one of the most important functions that Congress has in terms of political control, ”he explained.

Likewise, the lawyer mentioned that the investigative commissions are a power that has the Legislature to carry out this supervision. In that sense, he commented that for these to be carried out, the advice of specialists is necessary. For this reason, unlike Maldonado, he considered that the budget should be high for the working groups that investigate.

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“The type of advice they require is sometimes expensive, because they act as experts on certain issues. The structure of an investigative commission includes the provision of external support to properly gather and evaluate the information it receives”, he pointed out.

However, when asked if it would be better for the ordinary commissions to investigate some cases that do not require so much logistics, he said no, and pointed out that investigations are a specialty that requires the development of a program, a plan and the necessary budget to develop it in the most effective way.

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