The election of the boards of directors of the new bicameral Congress is approaching, which must be defined before July 26. The candidacies are almost defined with a clearer outlook for senators (Miguel Torres of Fuerza Popular) and more divided among deputies (Cecilia Chacón of Fuerza Popular and Norma Yarrow of Renovación Popular).
The election of the boards of directors of the new bicameral Congress is approaching, which must be defined before July 26. The candidacies are almost defined with a clearer outlook for senators (Miguel Torres of Fuerza Popular) and more divided among deputies (Cecilia Chacón of Fuerza Popular and Norma Yarrow of Renovación Popular).
In senators, although Torres’ candidacy is defined, the correlation of votes has some details to take into account. In practice, the right bloc (Fuerza Popular and Popular Renewal) and the left (Together for Peru, Now Nation and Works) have 56 votes each, leaving a Good Government Party in the center with 18 votes.
The contingency in the right-wing bloc is that they arrive with one less vote in the Senate, due to the absence of Rafael López Aliaga, who has not received his credentials. His successor, Absalón Vásquez, does not take over directly, but rather a whole process must take place in which the new Congress notifies the electoral body of López Aliaga’s situation and it issues the replacement’s new credential. This would only occur after July 26.
It may seem like a minor issue, but this means that the PBG votes have greater weight in the election of the right-wing bloc in the Senate. With a Jorge Nieto who does not want to assume ministries, it can be intuited that the negotiation will involve two aspects: the presidency of deputies (as an opposition balance before a Fujimori Senate) or the ownership of key commissions.
And why not negotiate with Obras? The Belmont party bench is a toss-up, without such clear leadership, and even has in its ranks characters linked to JP. Giving it relevance in a vote of this magnitude can end up opening the door to harmful negotiations. The right-wing bloc could end up turning Obras into the new Podemos.
In conclusion, to win the Senate you must give up deputies. And Fujimorism is interested in having the presidency of senators because that is where control of the entire Parliament will fall during this first year (starting in the second year, it is interspersed with deputies). Having the presidency of the Upper House will be key in this starting season, where deputies will seek to launch projects to measure strength and know the terrain they face to ensure that their populist texts become laws. There is so much talk about the Senate that the perspective of a Lower House where they will try, in any case, to pass their laws has been lost; A legislator from Renovación Popular can even be heard announcing that he will seek to establish the figure of insistence to bypass the Senate’s refusals. It is too early to talk about an “all-powerful” Senate.
