Members of Peru’s Congress traveled to the southern region of Ica on Wednesday where they held talks with local residents and will take part in a legislative session on Thursday.
The president of Congress and close ally of President Ollanta Humala, Daniel Abugattas, organized the session saying that it would be a part of the government’s efforts to increase decentralization.
Congress plans to spend 130,000 soles (approximately $47,700) on the session in Ica. On Wednesday, lawmakers traveled to various districts where they held town hall meetings.
The mayor of the Ocucaje district, Pablo Albites, said that one meeting “gave us the feeling that we’ve said all that we have to say. The population has expressed their opinions and demands.”
“The population has said things clearly,” state news agency Andina reported Albites as saying. “We are content and now we want this sentiment to turn into concrete actions.”
Juan Carlos Eguren, a legislator for the center-right Alianza por el Gran Cambio alliance, said that he hopes there will be more sessions in other parts of the country in order to improve representation in Congress.
Not everyone was upbeat about the meetings, however. Congressman Mauricio Mulder, a stalwart of ex-President Alan Garcia’s Aprista party, said that members of his political alliance decided not to take part in the trip because it is a “deception.”
“Nothing is going to be done [visiting each district] with what can be said there and even less so a Congressional Session,” Mulder said, adding that the trip is too expensive.
