The Peruvian parliamentary caucuses are preparing for the debate of the constitutional reforms

The ruling parliamentary group Peruanos por el Kambio and International IDEA co-organized an internal working meeting in August 2018, in which the members of Congress addressed the two central topics of the constitutional reform, which the President of the Republic proposed to Congress, i.e. the reform of the administration of justice and the political reform. The meeting was attended by Minister of Justice, Vicente Zeballos as the government’s spokesperson for the topic of the electoral reforms.

At the beginning of the working day, the caucus received a visit from the President of the Republic, who met with the Minister of Justice to share details of the Executive Branch’s strategy regarding the topics of the reform and approval thereof through a referendum. Subsequently, with the participation of constitutionalist and political experts as well as officials of the Ministry of Justice, two working groups were formed to discuss the details of the draft law submitted by the Executive Branch.

Among the participants in this discussion were Fernando Tuesta Soldevilla, professor of the faculty of Social Sciences at the Catholic University of Peru, and Gorki Gonzáles, lawyer and professor at the same university. 

The topics receiving most attention during the debate were the design of a parliament with two chambers and the redesign of the National Council of the Judiciary, which is the entity responsible for appointing and removing judges in Peru. In this sense, the dialogue of the members of parliament with the guest experts helped to identify common lines which will be very helpful to define the caucus’ position in the upcoming debate on the constitutional reform in Congress.

This meeting is part of International IDEA’s actions to promote the political and electoral reform in Peru. From the moment this parliament took office, around 10 similar activities have taken place with five parliamentary groups. One of the most recent workshops took place in August 2018 with the caucus of Fuerza Popular.