Democratic Peru (; PD) is a

parliamentary group A parliamentary group, parliamentary caucus or political group is a group consisting of members of different political party, political parties or independent politicians with similar ideologies. Some parliamentary systems allow smaller politic ...

of the

Congress of the Republic of Peru The Congress of the Republic of Peru () is the unicameral body that assumes legislative power in Peru. Due to broadly interpreted impeachment wording in the Constitution of Peru, the President of Peru can be Vacancy due to moral incapacity (Per ...

. Formed in January 2022, it brings together several congressmen from three parties. Being the first "minority", the group joined the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

from February 2022.

History

On January 7, 2022, five former parliamentarians from

Free Peru Free Peru (), officially the Free Peru National Political Party (), is a Marxist political party in Peru. Founded in 2008 as the Free Peru Political Regional Movement, the party was officially constituted as a national organization in February 2 ...

We Are Peru The Democratic Party "We Are Peru" (, PDSP) is a Christian democratic political party in Peru. It has party committees in nineteen regions of the country. History Founding (1997-2000) We Are Peru was formed in 1995 under the name of "We Ar ...

and Popular Action asked the president of Congress,

Maricarmen Alva María del Carmen Alva Prieto (born 24 February 1967) is a Peruvian lawyer and politician who served as the president of the Congress of the Republic of Peru from 26 July 2021 until 26 July 2022, and a member of the Congress representing Lima. S ...

, to create a parliamentary group. The first five members include

Héctor Valer Héctor Valer Pinto (born 4 February 1959) is a Peruvian politician who served as President of the Council of Ministers of Peru, Prime Minister of Peru from 1 February 2022 to 8 February 2022. Originally elected to the Peruvian Congress as ...

, Hamlet Echevarría, Carlos Zeballos, Luis Kamiche and Guillermo Bermejo. On January 10, a few days after the creation of the parliamentary group, the then

Minister of Labour Minister of labour (in British English) or labor (in American English) is typically a cabinet-level position with portfolio responsibility for setting national labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, traini ...

Betssy Chávez Betssy Betzabet Chávez Chino (born 3 June 1989) is a Peruvian attorney and politician, who served as prime minister of Peru from 26 November until 7 December 2022, when she resigned. She was Peru's seventh female prime minister. She's been a ...

, announced that she would join the group. On January 14, after a meeting with Pedro Castillo, President Héctor Valer declared his parliamentary group neither in opposition nor in favor of the government, but only in favor of a

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

. On February 1, 2022, Héctor Valer was appointed

President of the Council of Ministers The president of the Council of Ministers (sometimes titled chairman of the Council of Ministers) is the most senior member of the cabinet in the executive branch of government in some countries. Some presidents of the Council of Ministers are ...

by President

Pedro Castillo José Pedro Castillo Terrones (; born 19 October 1969) is a Peruvian politician, former elementary school teacher, and union leader who served as the President of Peru from 28 July 2021 until Third impeachment and removal of Pedro Castillo, he ...

, replacing

Mirtha Vásquez Mirtha Esther Vásquez Chuquilín (born 31 March 1975) is a Peruvian attorney and politician who served as prime minister of Peru from 6 October 2021 to 31 January 2022. Previously, she briefly served in Congress for the complementary term betw ...

, who resigned the day before. Thus, the parliamentary group de facto integrated the composition and support of the government, with the President of the Council and the Minister of Labor as members of the government coalition.

Position

The group can be referred to as left-wingers and catch-alls. Since there are differences since its creation, Héctor Valer during a meeting with Pedro Castillo called the group neither in the opposition nor in favor of the government. However, a few days later, Guillermo Bermejo, who resigned from

, evokes a parliamentary group in support of the government. However, the group is characterized by ideological elements shared by all, whether by those who remain in Free Peru, or by those who have left the party, and the dissidents of the

and Popular Action parties. The parliamentarians particularly want the convocation of a Constituent Assembly, the fight against corruption and the restoration of the image of legislators.

Members

Initially made up of 5 members, being the minimum number of congressmen required to create a parliamentary group, the then Minister of Labor of the government of Pedro Castillo, Betssy Chávez, also a congressman, decided to join the group. Two days later, the parliamentarian Nieves Limachi decided to join the group, which was made up mostly of current or former members of Free Peru. In 2022,

quit the caucus, followed by Carlos Zeballos.

Composition

References

{{Reflist, 2 2022 establishments in Peru Parliamentary groups in Peru Political parties established in 2022 Political parties disestablished in 2023