What prompted the protests in Peru?
3:05
(CNN Spanish) --
There were two legislative initiatives presented on Thursday in Peru that propose a constitutional reform that would shorten the mandate of President Pedro Castillo and the Congress of the Republic, in addition to advancing the general elections in the country.
According to the Constitution, the partial or total reforms must be carried out through the Parliament, with which it is in its hands to approve the initiatives that are presented.
One of the bills was introduced by Peru Libre, the ruling party.
However, CNN confirmed through a conversation with Hugo Roviria, senior congressional official, that the spokesman for that caucus, Waldemar Cerrón, and other congressmen withdrew their signatures from the bill, with which it goes to the archives and cannot be continue its process for not having the minimum signatures required by the legislative regulations.
CNN also spoke with Pasión Dávila, congressman who authored the project, who commented that her signature had not been withdrawn and that she will not either.
Neither President Castillo nor the President of the Council of Ministers, Aníbal Torres, have spoken publicly about the projects presented this Thursday, CNN is seeking their opinions.
Who did speak on the subject at a press conference was the president of Congress, María del Carmen Alva, who said that "everything is debatable" and that "if for Castillo to leave we all have to leave, there is no problem " .
The second bill, which does continue its course in Congress, was presented by Congresswoman Digna Calle, from the Podemos party.
The document proposes that the general elections be called by the president within 48 hours of the entry into force of the article and that they be held on the last Sunday of March 2023. Among the foundations of the initiative, it is stated that the "country is convulsed with protests and social mobilizations in the face of the political and economic crisis that is the result of the perception of improvisation and incapacity of the government, (...) and the lack of correct actions by a large part of Congress”.
advertising
The project of the ruling Peru Libre proposed that "the president and vice president -elected in 2021- conclude their mandate on July 28, 2023. And that the congressmen elected in the same electoral process complete their representation on July 26 of the same year " .
This bill, which refers to the two vacancy motions filed against Pedro Castillo, indicates that there is an "institutional and political representation crisis" to which the population has responded through various demonstrations throughout the country, and that these facts “they reflect a deep crisis of legitimacy in the political scenario that, added to recent events, offers a very clear indication that the national representation is not framing its functions in favor of the interests and the great demands of the population.”
The text also referred to the latest polls that give high disapproval to President Castillo's management and even greater disapproval to Congress: "a new political composition is necessary in leading the destinies of the country that surpasses the current political actors , and that the citizens decide a new course in the general elections in the face of the evident institutional crisis generated”.
And he added that “a transition of impeccable democratic legality is urgently needed” and that the future of the democratic regime is currently threatened.
peter castle
