The plenary session of the Congress failed to approve, in the first vote, the draft constitutional reform of the Executive power so that the general elections advance to December 2023.
After a debate in the Chamber of Congress in which some clashes between the benches took place, the final result had 49 votes in favor, 33 against and 25 abstentions. In addition, it was not possible to overcome the fence of 66 adhesions, which would have allowed the initiative to be submitted to a referendum.
As is known, this request from the Executive comes after various violent clashes around the country, which so far has left 17 dead and more than 400 injured among civilians and police officers, according to the Ombudsman’s Office.
The benches of Fuerza Popular, Alianza para el Progreso (APP) and Podemos Peru were the only ones that voted en bloc. Meanwhile, in other political groups there were divisions when making a decision.
It is worth mentioning that 87 votes were required to take a first step in this legislature, and ratify it in the next one, which would start in February 2023.
A total of 33 parliamentarians voted against the legislative initiative and 25 abstained. In addition, in the midst of the result of the vote and the claims of the legislators, the president of Congress, José Williams, suspended the session without informing when it will be resumed.
Below is the list of congressmen who voted against the early elections:
ADVANCE COUNTRY:
-Alejandro Cavero
-Adriana Tudela
-Norma Yarrow
-Patricia Chirinos
-Roselli Amuruz
-Diego Bazan
-Maria Cordova
-Diana Gonzales
PEOPLE ACTION:
-Maricarmen Alva
-Jose Arriola
-Karol Paredes
-Edwin Martinez
PEOPLE RENEWAL:
-Jose Cueto
-Jorge Montoya
-Jose Padilla
-Jorge Zeballos
-Miguel Ciccia
TOGETHER FOR PERU
-Sigrid Bazan
-Isabel Cortez
DEMOCRATIC PERU:
-Guillermo Bermejo
-Betsy Chavez
-Hamlet Echeverria
-Luis Roberto Kamiche
INTEGRITY AND DEVELOPMENT:
-Kira Alcarraz
-Carlos Alva
BICENTENARY PERU:
-Jose Balcazar
-Jorge Coayla
-Elias Varas
-Jorge Marticorena
-Victor Cutipa
FREE PERU
-Segundo Montalvo
NOT GROUPED
– Juan Burgos
-Roberto Chiabra
In parallel, there was also another group of parliamentarians who decided to vote in abstention. These votes came, for the most part, from the benches of Peru Libre and the Magisterial Bloc, they intended to include in the project to advance the elections the question so that the people decide if they want a Constituent Assembly.
Dissidences also occurred in Popular Action, where the four congressmen identified as ‘Los Niños’ for their ties to former President Pedro Castillo preferred to abstain. We refer to Elvis Vergara, Ilich López, Raúl Doroteo and Darwin Espinoza.
For its part, we are Peru too opted for the yellow button and evade a pronouncement.
Next, the congressmen who voted in abstention:
FREE PERU:
-Flavio Cruz
-Alfredo Pariona
-Abel Reyes
-Silvia Robles
PEOPLE ACTION:
-Luis Aragon
-Elvis Vergara
-Ilich Lopez
-Raul Doroteo
-Darwin Espinoza
-Hilda Porter
-Wilson Soto
MASTER BLOCK:
-Elizabeth Medina
-Francis Paredes
-Alex Paredes
-German Tacuri
-Edgar Tello
PEOPLE RENEWAL:
-Gladys Echaiz
-Milagros Jauregui
INTEGRITY AND DEVELOPMENT:
-Carlos Zevallos
WE ARE PERU:
-Jose Jeri
-Ezra Medina
-Hitler Saavedra
DEMOCRATIC PERU:
-Nieves Limachi
NOT GROUPED:
-Hector Valer
-Oscar Zea