These are the benches that say no to the bill for referendum on a new Constitution proposed by Pedro Castillo

Last Friday, the President of the Republic, Pedro Castillo proposed the bill that had been pending since the beginning of his election campaign and announced that in the regional and municipal elections in October of this year, a referendum should be consulted whether or not the population agrees with a new Constitution, through a Constituent Assembly.

Several representatives of the benches were against the proposal that is still pending discussion and debate in the Congress of the Republic.

The members of the board of directors, including the president of the Congress, Maria del Carmen Alva of the Popular Action Party, said that the issue is not within the country's priorities at this time.

For her part, the first vice-president of Congress, Lady Camones of the Alliance for Progress (APP) party, agreed with Alva and joined in the protest with a strong message: “I say no to the Constituent Assembly”.

In addition, Second Vice President Enrique Wong, of Podemos Peru, said that “a Constituent Assembly is a factory of dictators that drives away investment and generates instability.”

The third vice president, Patricia Chirinos of Avanza Pais, said that this proposal only generates “a greater confrontation between Peruvians to undermine the mobilization that has been raised against him.”

CONCERNED BENCHES

In the case of Popular Renewal with Jorge Montoya in charge, they showed their “sharp” rejection of the president's proposal.

“We strongly reject the announcement by the President of the Republic, Pedro Castillo Terrones, to present a bill that proposes the possibility of a referendum on the convening of a Constituent Assembly,” he said.

“According to Article 206 of the Political Constitution of Peru, it is held that any constitutional reform must be approved by Congress with an absolute majority of the legal number of its members, and ratified by referendum, otherwise it would be a flagrant violation of our constitutional order,” he added.

We are Peru, through its spokesman, Congressman José Jerí, turned his back on Pedro Castillo, despite the fact that on several occasions he has been the group allied to the Government. “Our country requires work, growth, stability to make it attractive for investment. It does not require at this time either a Constituent Assembly or a new Constitution,” they said.

Acción Popular mentioned that the head of state is diverting his attention from the issues that are urgent at this juncture. He said that his bench has not met to discuss the matter, but that they are not looking for a new Magna Carta.

“From the outset we don't agree with a total change in the Constitution. The president cannot spend all his energy on this, there are more important problems such as lack of water, economic reactivation, back to school, vaccination, etc.,” Parliamentarian Karol Paredes told Peru21.

Alliance for Progress (APP), for its part, considered that the proposal will not prosper in plenary because “it only shows that the president has his eyes elsewhere, and not where the need of the population is,” said Congressman Roberto Chiabra.

Finally, the Fuerza Popula r bench mentioned that “cold cloths” must be put in place so that entrepreneurs and investors can still trust the country again and called it “irresponsible” to think about convening a Constituent Assembly in the current situation.

“The president and his advisers know that this approach is unconstitutional. The only two forms of reform of the Constitution are provided for in article 206 of the Constitution. We cannot talk about calling for a referendum in October, because the elections have already been called. The rules governing municipal and regional elections cannot be changed. The bill is openly unconstitutional, there is no way as the president intends to submit to Congress to amend the Constitution. It again seeks to generate a citizen's expectation that does not correspond to our constitutional channels,” said legislator Patricia Juárez.

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