Labor Commission: They question the vote that led to the approval of the opinion on pension reform

The Congressional Labor Commission, in an extraordinary session held today, put to the vote opinions on a proposal that optimizes the Peruvian Pension System and that, in its content, proposes the administration of the pension system at the hands of the public sector. The initiative is authored by Congresswoman Sigrid Bazán, who chairs the aforementioned commission.

This is an initiative that, at the time, was rejected by the aforementioned commission in March of this year and about which Congresswoman Bazán warned that a reconsideration would be considered. Although this did not happen, on May 22, Congressman Raúl Doroteo presented a request for reconsideration of the initiative. This resulted in the majority voting this afternoon and the minority opinion, the latter being the one that was approved.

voting details

The majority opinion recommended non-approval and sending the measure to the archive; while the minority opinion recommended the approval of the initiative.

For the majority opinion, the vote was 10 votes in favor and 10 against. Congresswoman Sigrid Bazán made use of her right to vote, with which the measure obtained 11 votes against and sending it to the archive was ruled out. Subsequently, the minority opinion reached 11 votes in favor, 9 against and 0 abstentions. With which the initiative was approved.

However, after the vote, Congresswoman Rosangella Barbarán asked to speak in the session, questioning the vote. “The majority opinion and the minority opinion have the signature of the same congressman. That this be used, knowing that a fault has been committed, is detrimental to the practice of Congress. Let this situation be clarified.”, the congresswoman rebuked the president of the Labor commission. Congresswoman Bazán’s response was that the vote had already been executed and the dispensation of minutes was closed.

The participation of Congressman Carlos Anderson added to the discussion during the session. “This is being handled so badly that I will formally request the censure of the board of directors of this commission”said the parliamentarian to the president of the commission.

The double signature

The double signature that congresswoman Barbarán mentioned would correspond to that of parliamentarian Raúl Doroteo, congressman of Acción Popular and accused of the alleged crimes of criminal organization and aggravated influence peddling in the “Los Niños” case. Said parliamentarian, in March, voted against the initiative.

However, on May 22, he submitted a request to the commission in which he considers it “pertinent to reassess the opinion and that the aforementioned bills are not archived.” His signature and said reconsideration document appear together with the majority opinion. However, in the minority opinion, his signature also appears.

According to José Cevasco, a former senior officer of Congress, this figure is only possible if it is a secretary of the aforementioned commission. “Unless he is the secretary, he is obliged to sign as secretary of the opinion. He could sign another bill as a congressman. If he is not the secretary, he can sign only one opinion, not both”he clarified.

The positions of vice president and secretary of the commission are held by congressmen Miguel Ciccia and Lucinda Vásquez, respectively.

Additionally, in this case, the advisory opinion 02-2021-2022-CCR/CR of the Constitution and Regulations Committee works, which considers that the congressman can change the direction of his vote “during the call for a vote and even before the closing of the same”. From “in favor” to “against” or vice versa and even in abstention.

other fouls

Minutes after the vote took place, Congresswoman María Cruz Zeta of the Fuerza Popular bench participated in the session to warn that her vote had been considered in favor when it was against. “I want to clarify my vote in the minority opinion. My vote is against and not in favor as was erroneously stated at the time of the vote, ”she said. Said observation was made after the commission executed the agreements reached.

According to Cevasco, if the technical secretary consigned a vote differently from the meaning issued by the congresswoman, this constitutes a fault. “There is an agreement in Congress by which it can be reconsidered when the minutes have not been executed. In this case, the executed agreement means releasing the opinion with the signatures to be included in the Plenary’s agenda. The congresswoman can request the annulment of that result since her vote is different and if it is considered that what was done in the commission goes against all procedure, they can request the censure of the presidency of the commission ”he explained.

The initiative

The measure approved this afternoon in the session implies the creation of a Universal Integrated Pension System, the same for which the Ministry of Labor will be its governing body. Likewise, according to the proposal, the Sunat would be the institution in charge of collecting contributions under the new system.

The system determines that ONP affiliates would compulsorily become part of the SIUP, while AFP affiliates under 45 years of age would be considered insured to said system. For those over 45 years of age, incorporation would be voluntary.