After the setback that meant that the Chamber of Deputies of Congress approved only 20 of the 66 points of the government’s request for powers, Popular Force The Senate will seek to incorporate nine issues into the opinion. These will be related to citizen security and the El Niño phenomenon.
In statements to “We Have to Talk,” El Comercio video podcast, Fujimori deputy César Revilla said that “at a minimum” the 29 points that his party raised in the last replacement text that it proposed on Tuesday night must be approved.
He added that in the lower house there was an initial consensus with Renovación Popular y Obras and if this is transferred to the Senate, nine points can be increased to the twenty already approved.
“I have seen that many benches (between chambers) are divorced and it will depend on the debate in the Constitution Commission (of the Senate). But, at least it must focus on those 29 points, because that text (which Fuerza Popular presented at the end) was drafted with Obras and with Renovación Popular. There are 29 points of consensus,” he said.
Revilla indicated that in the upper house there is a group of opposition senators that are “much more mature” and that they do not allow themselves to be “led by a political ally.”
The president of the Senate Constitution Commission, Carlos Mesía (Fuerza Popular), put a cold shoulder to his first statements, when he said that he could not define what denaturalization meant. In “At the End of the Day,” a Canal N program, he pointed out that proposals should only be incorporated in matters approved by the Chamber of Deputies: citizen security and the El Niño phenomenon.
“On this very delicate issue, where we have to reach consensus and agree, politics is the art of the possible, I think we have to debate and incorporate only matters of El Niño and citizen security,” he expressed.
However, the former head of the Constitutional Court stressed that the Senate is not a review chamber of the legal formula that comes from the chamber of deputies, “but of the initiatives that are presented, which is different.”
The president of the Senate Constitution Commission called a session for this Friday at 10 am in the Francisco Bolognesi room of Congress, in order to listen to the head of the Ministerial Cabinet, Luis Galarreta, and six other ministers about the text approved in the chamber of deputies. In this way, the debate on the opinion will begin in the upper house.
Ministers Ernesto Álvarez (Justice and Human Rights), César Astudillo (Interior), Rafael Belaunde (Defense), Marco Vinelli (Agrarian Development and Irrigation), Juan Carlos Requejo (Production) and Mauricio Arnillas (Housing, Construction and Sanitation) were invited.
Sources close to the Government Palace indicated that the eventual approval of 29 points in the Senate would be “a consolation prize.”
They added that the ideal scenario projected by the Executive was to obtain 50 of the 66 points, as Fuerza Popular had proposed in a minority opinion that was rejected with 73 votes against.
Among the nine points that Fujimori will strive to incorporate, four are related to citizen security and five to El Niño.
In the first block is the regulation of the participation of the Armed Forces (FF.AA.) in external security actions in prisons.
Also the proposal to modify Legislative Decree No. 1095, which establishes rules for the employment and use of force by the Armed Forces. in national territory, with the aim of specifying “the exceptional cases” in which the military can intervene in support of the National Police to stop organized crime organizations “or other serious threats.”
In addition, Fuerza Popular will insist on its initiative to declare criminal organizations as “terrorists.”
And the fourth point seeks to change paragraph 3 of article 20 of the Penal Code to determine that whoever exercises self-defense “enjoys the presumption of having acted rationally in the face of the aggression.” And that any judicial resolution that discards it “requires qualified motivation, under the penalty of nullity.”
(Photo: El Comercio)
Regarding the El Niño phenomenon, the ruling party aims to legislate to approve administrative simplification and drinking water measures.
(Photo: El Comercio)
The alternate spokesperson for Together for Peru in the Senate, Saúl Armacanqui, said that, in due course, his bench will evaluate a position on whether or not points should be increased in citizen security and the El Niño phenomenon in the opinion of the government’s request for powers to legislate.
“I am in Mexico, I have not read (the ruling), we will evaluate it in due course,” he said in communication with El Comercio.
Armacanqui said that the axes that were not approved in the lower house are already behind us and that only the points that had support should be discussed.
Senator Jaime Delgado, spokesperson for Ahora Nación, stressed that his party will be rigorous with the application of article 25 of the upper house, which states that they can approve, reject or modify the text that comes from the deputies, as long as it is not distorted.
“I am concerned about the level of relationship between deputies and senators in the next five years. The regulations do not say that the Senate is all powerful and that it can change everything. If the Senate commits that clumsiness, coexistence will be very difficult in the next five years,” he added in dialogue with this newspaper.
When asked about whether adding points in safety and El Niño means denaturalizing, Delgado responded that this will be analyzed and that starting Friday the discussion will begin “about what a modification is and how far it can go.” “But we cannot say a priori that we are going to incorporate nine more topics,” he concluded.
The spokesman for the Works bench, Daniel Barragán, said that they still do not have a position and that in the coming days they will meet to decide.
In “At the end of the Day”, on Canal N, deputy Nery Fernández (Good Government Party) said that the modifications to the opinion of delegated powers can only be on the two approved subjects. That is, security and El Niño.
“As long as (the changes) do not go against the Constitution, do not affect human rights, if that is true, (yes). It does not mean that they cannot touch (the text), I think they will improve it for the good of all Peruvians,” he expressed.
Lawyer Martín Cabrera, a consultant on parliamentary affairs, explained that the Senate can make changes to the opinion approved in the chamber of deputies, as long as it is framed in citizen security and El Niño.
“If these nine points are within the two thematic axes already approved by deputies, it could be done. There, we would have to see, for example, the discussion on the role of the Armed Forces,” he added.
In “We Have to Talk,” Cabrera said that some deputies have not finished “shaking off unicamerality.” “He believes that what is approved by deputies has to go up as is. The Senate is not a table of parties. The Senate is a reflective and reviewing chamber. Theoretically, the Senate is higher than deputies. It has all the powers to correct what goes up from the lower house,” he said.
Regarding the deadlines, the expert estimated that, at the beginning of November, the opinion on the request for powers could be approved in the plenary session of the Senate.
He also said that the Senate has to specify what type of vote is required to approve the changes in plenary, because it is half plus one.
“That is what has to be defined, if number 31 is a person of flesh and blood, or if he can be Torres’ decision-maker,” he said.
The President of the Republic, Keiko Fujimori, said that she trusts that the example of Miguel Grau Seminario will prevail in Congress, giving a speech at the ceremony for the 205th anniversary of the creation of the Peruvian Navy and the 147th anniversary of the Battle of Angamos.
(Photo: Mario Zapata/ El Comercio)
Fujimori Higuchi, in this sense, addressed a question to those who are responsible for evaluating the opinion approved in the Chamber of Deputies on the request for delegated powers presented by his administration to confront insecurity, El Niño and other points.
“Will we be able to lower our party flags to raise the white flag of peace that all Peruvians demand of us? Will we be able to put aside old political quarrels to prioritize a present and future of security and tranquility for our people? I sincerely trust that in Congress Grau’s example will prevail over confrontation and resentment,” he said.
On the other hand, the head of state said that Peru needs to work today to build a country that responsibly uses its resources, strengthens its scientific and technological capabilities and has institutions that are increasingly prepared to face the challenges of the future.
“On dates as important as these, it is very necessary to highlight its meaning to project it to our own present. Grau’s commitment to Peru is our best example and should lead us to a real and deep reflection. What are we willing to do for Peru that is above our own interests and our own lives?”, he stated.
