Liberal Bench

Liberal Bench Bancada Liberal
Spokesperson	Gino Costa
Deputy Spokesperson	Alberto de Belaúnde
Founded	19 December 2018
Dissolved	16 March 2020
Headquarters	Lima, Peru
Ideology	Liberalism Progressivism
Political position	Centre
Colors	Green
Politics of Peru Political parties Elections

Liberal Bench (Spanish: Bancada Liberal) was a Peruvian parliamentary caucus formed by Francesco Petrozzi during the 2016–2019 term of the Peruvian Congress. The group was introduced on December 19, 2018, by congressman Alberto de Belaúnde and was formally recognized that same day by President of Congress Daniel Salaverry.^[1][2] Its members are former members of the political parties Peruvians for Change and Popular Force.^[3][4][5]

The caucus was formally dissolved in the aftermath of the constitutional dissolution of the Peruvian Congress issued by President Martín Vizcarra on 30 September 2019, leading to the Permanent Assembly where the caucus was represented by congressman Gino Costa only. Costa and Alberto de Belaúnde were successfully reelected to complete their term at the 2020 parliamentary election held on 26 January 2020, as invited candidates of the Purple Party.

History

On December 19, 2018, independent congressman Gino Costa announced the creation of Liberal Bench to other independent congressmen. He later announced himself as the spokesperson of the group.^[6][7]

Congressional makeup

Its official members are four former members of Peruvians for a Change: Gino Costa, Alberto de Belaunde, Vincente Zeballos, Guido Lombardi. Additionally, it consists of one former member of Popular Force, Francesco Petrozzi. On December 5, 2019, de Belaunde announced that the party is open to including new members.^[8][9]

References

1. PERÚ, Empresa Peruana de Servicios Editoriales S. A. EDITORA. "TC resuelve que parlamentarios podrán forman nuevas bancadas". andina.pe (in Spanish). Retrieved September 5, 2019.
2. "TC declaró inconstitucional la 'Ley Antitránsfuga'". RPP (in Spanish). September 13, 2017. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
3. Belaunde, Alberto de (December 21, 2018). "Declaración de principios de la Bancada Liberal". Medium. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
4. Caballero, Gerardo (June 28, 2016). "De Belaunde: 'Siento que hemos avanzado en senda de tolerancia'". El Comercio (in Spanish). Retrieved September 5, 2019.
5. LR, Redacción (May 29, 2019). "De Belaunde: 'El fujimorismo le hace daño a la democracia y al país'". larepublica.pe (in Spanish). Retrieved September 5, 2019.
6. LR, Redacción (May 29, 2019). "Bancada Liberal también solicitó ser registrada como bancada". larepublica.pe (in Spanish). Retrieved September 5, 2019.
7. LR, Redacción (May 29, 2019). "Daniel Salaverry autoriza crear nuevas bancadas en el Congreso". larepublica.pe (in Spanish). Retrieved September 5, 2019.
8. "Congresistas no agrupados pidieron formalmente la conformación de Bancada Liberal". América Noticias (in Spanish). Retrieved September 5, 2019.
9. LR, Redacción (May 29, 2019). "Bancada Liberal abre las puertas a nuevos integrantes". larepublica.pe (in Spanish). Retrieved September 5, 2019.