Bancada de Juntos for Peru divided by the change of name of the parliamentary group

A new break is recorded in the parliamentary left, this time after an attempt to change the name of the bench. On the afternoon of April 13, a statement released the decision to change Juntos for Peru to Cambio Democrático following an agreement reached “by majority” during a meeting of the parliamentary group. However, two of the five congressmen insisted on their rejection of the measure despite the agreement announced through social media.

One of the members who have made their rejection official is Congresswoman Isabel Cortez. “Two political spaces opted for the candidacy of a cleaning worker: Together for Peru since those years when she invited me to be councilor and New Peru that bet on me at number 2 on the congressional list of the last election. Thanks to these spaces, I am a congressman”, wrote the parliamentarian on her Twitter account.

Cortez said he is against the proposed name change because he believes that the name of Nuevo Peru should be added, a political group led by Verónika Mendoza with the Juntos for Peru allied to participate in the 2021 general elections. “I think we should always be due to those who trusted us from the beginning and be consistent so there are differences: we will not always owe a collective and I from Juntos por Peru-New Peru, as well as to my unions Sitobur and Sitomun,” he wrote.

According to the statement announcing the change of name, the decision came because “we are facing a different political moment, so it is necessary to adopt a name in accordance with our political commitment to all Peruvians. The Democratic Change Bank ratifies its political will to promote and demand the process of change that the country demands, denouncing corruption and combating inequality,” the publication reads.

OFFICIAL RESPONSE

The rejection of Congresswoman Cortez was reciprocated by the parliamentarian and minister of foreign trade and tourism, Roberto Sánchez. Both signed a communiqué to the Senior Officer of Congress, Hugo Rovira, in which they reproduce paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 62 of the Rules of Procedure of the Congress. These specify the requirements for forming a Parliamentary Group or a Special Parliamentary Group in case it is not composed of a minimum number of congressmen.

“Under these considerations, our representation as congressmen of the political party Juntos por Peru would be interrupted if the requested change of name is made official”. In addition, they emphasized that the regulation of the legislative branch does not take into account the type of request submitted. “We therefore ask you not to process the request submitted by the congressmen in question”; that is, Ruth Luque, Edgar Reymundo and Sigrid Bazán.

It is worth recalling another of the breaks made visible in the bench in question. A few days ago, Congresswoman Bazán stressed that Junto por Peru would not be an allied bench of the government, despite the fact that one of its members holds the position of Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism. In conversation with Epicentro, the congresswoman pointed out that her distance from the Pedro Castillo government has been visible for months. It should be noted that Roberto Sánchez is not only a minister of this government, a congressman of Juntos for Peru, but also president of the party that joined Verónika Mendoza to tempt the presidency of the republic in the 2021 elections.

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