Former President Francisco Sagasti presented to the RPP Noticias a legislative initiative “for constitutional reform, through which it is proposed to shorten the terms of office of the President, Vice Presidents and Congressmen of the Republic elected in the 2021 general election, and contribute to the improvement of electoral rules. for use in the next general electoral process.
Sagasti said that after publishing his columns in newspapersRepublic D Trade in which he spoke about proposals to get out of the political trap, in April last year, citizens of various groups and personalities approached him to work it out.
“In three months, we had meetings with more than a dozen groups that showed interest. We also considered a number of approaches that have been implemented in Congress different political parties. The goal was to find the lowest common denominator among all these proposals,” he said.
The former president said that these approaches are presented under the title “Civil Consensus”. This proposal combines the approaches of groups such as the La Propuesta Youth Network, members of the Institute for Democracy, Confluencia Peru, Valentin Group, Rafo Roncagliolo Group, as well as various legislative projects submitted by congressmen in the current parliament.
implying?
According to the legislative initiative, the elected are invited to reduce the term of office until July 28, 2023. The newly elected term will be extended until July 2026. The first round will be only in the presidential elections and will be held on the first Sunday. month of April 2023. On the third Sunday in May 2023, the parliamentary elections and, if applicable, the second round of the presidential elections will be held, the initiative says.
The bill allows “by way of exception” to run as candidates for congressmen of the republic elected in the 2021 general election.
“Secondly, it raises a number of issues and the creation of a special committee in Congress to discuss these issues of constitutional reform in depth, not in a hurry, not without very broad discussion. We believe that presenting this limited agenda to Congress, which will be elected for 3 years, will allow for in-depth debate, for example, on what a bicameral system should be,” he said.
The legislative initiative states that this special commission must prepare a comprehensive proposal within no more than 120 days, including the following issues: Congress and the National Government, b) application of the cause of personal vacancy and inclusion of political litigation, c) comprehensive reform of Congress, including bicameralism, d) immediate re-election of congressmen, governors, councilors and mayors, e) strengthening of the policy system of organizations, f) reform of the selection procedure and the election of the Ombudsman, Comptroller, Magistrates of the Constitutional Court, members of the National Electoral Jury and the National Council of Justice, and g) strengthening the State Attorney General’s Office.
“What I do is integrate the will of the citizen, expressed from different points of view. Apart from this task, the concern of the constitutionalists is that this proposal is strictly within the existing legal framework,” Sagasti said.
The ex-president said that this constitutional reform must go through Congress and be approved by more than 66 votes and then put to a referendum.
“Ideally, whoever takes over the reins under this proposal next year will be able to reach a broad consensus and implement a limited number of reforms in institutional, economic and social areas that will allow us to restore time. lost due to the pandemic and time lost over the past year,” he said.
Sagasti said that this initiative could only be carried out by a congressman who would pick it up and present it. Another way is to look for signatures, as the group La Propuesta does. “The important thing is that it happens through Congress. I believe and hope that 66 members of Congress, just as we had 71 members of Congress, voted for this electoral reform that did not take place. I hope that the same congressmen will support,” he said.
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The legislator said that economic interests are behind the project, approved at the insistence of the plenary session of the parliament. On the other hand, MP Alex Paredes of the ruling Magisterial Bloc justified his group’s support for the project’s persistence despite the government’s compliance with the law.
Source: RPP
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