The Congress of the Republic () is the bicameral body which exercises legislative power in Peru. Due to the broadly interpreted impeachment wording in the Constitution of Peru, the President of Peru can be removed by Congress without cause, effectively making the legislature more powerful than the executive branch. Congress obtained nearly absolute control of Peru's government following a ruling in February 2023 when the Constitutional Court of Peru, whose members are directly chosen by Congress, removed judicial oversight of the legislative body.
Congress's composition is established by Chapter I of Title IV of the Constitution of Peru. Congress is composed of representatives who sit in congressional districts allocated to each region, as well as two special districts, Lima Province and Peruvian citizens living abroad, on a basis of population as measured by the Peruvian Census in multi-member districts. The number of voting representatives is fixed by the Constitution at 130. Pursuant to the 2017 Census, the largest delegation is that of Lima Province, with 36 representatives.
Congress is charged with the responsibility to pass laws and legislative resolutions, as well as to interpret, amend, or repeal existing laws. Congress also ratifies international treaties, approves the national budget, and authorizes loans on behalf of the country. It may also override presidential observations to bills by a vote of more than half the legal number of congressmen. It can also remove government official including the President, consent to the entry of foreign troops into the national territory, and authorize the President to leave the country. Congress meets at the Legislative Palace in Lima.
The presiding officer is the President of Congress, who is elected by the members thereof (and is therefore traditionally the leader of the controlling party). The President and three vice-presidents are chosen by the controlling governing coalition.
History
thumb|left|The [[Legislative Palace (Peru)|Legislative Palace. In front of it, the famous Tadolini's Simon Bolivar statue in the Plaza Bolívar.]]
thumb|left|Details of the façade.
19th century
The first Peruvian Congress was installed in 1822 as the Constitutional Congress led by Francisco Xavier de Luna Pizarro. In 1829, the government installed a bicameral Congress, made up by a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies. This system was interrupted a number of times by Constitutional Congresses that created new Constitutions every few years.
20th century
The Deputies reunited in the Legislative Palace and the Senators went to the former Peruvian Inquisition of Lima until 1930, when Augusto B. Leguía was overthrown by Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro. He installed a Constitutional Congress (1931–1933) that promulgated the Constitution of 1933. By order of the president, the Peruvian Aprista Party members that were in Congress were arrested for their revolutionary doctrines against the government. When Sánchez Cerro was assassinated in 1933 by an APRA member, General Óscar R. Benavides took power and closed Congress until 1939, when Manuel Prado Ugarteche was elected president. During various dictatorships, the Congress was interrupted by coups d'état. In 1968, Juan Velasco Alvarado overthrew president Fernando Belaúnde by a coup d'état, again closing Congress.
1979 constitution
The 1979 Constitution was promulgated on 12 July 1979 by the Constitutional Assembly elected following 10 years of military rule and replaced the suspended 1933 Constitution. It became effective in 1980 with the re-election of deposed President Fernando Belaúnde. It limited the president to a single five-year term and established a bicameral legislature consisting of a 60-member Senate (upper house) and a 180-member Chamber of Deputies (lower house). Members of both chambers were elected for five-year terms, running concurrently with that of the president. Party-list proportional representation was used for both chambers: on a regional basis for the Senate, and using the D'Hondt method for the lower house. Members of both houses had to be Peruvian citizens, with a minimum age of 25 for deputies and 35 for senators.
Move to unicameral body
At the beginning of the 1990s, the bicameral congress had a low public approval rating. President Alberto Fujimori did not have the majority in both chambers, the opposition led the Congress, impeding the power that Fujimori had as president. He made the decision of dissolving Congress by a self-coup to his government in 1992. Following the self-coup, in which Congress was dissolved, the Democratic Constitutional Congress established a single chamber of 120 members. The Democratic Constitutional Congress promulgated the 1993 Constitution in which gave more power to the President. The new unicameral Congress started working in 1995, dominated by Fujimori's Congressmen that had the majority. The Congress permits a one-year term for a Congressman or Congresswoman to become President of Congress.
21st century
Political crisis
According to Walter Albán, head of Transparency International Peru, the Congress of Peru has recently been infiltrated by criminal groups that obstruct reforms in order to maintain their status and parliamentary immunity. During the presidencies of Ollanta Humala, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and Martín Vizcarra, the right-wing Congress led by the daughter of the former Peruvian dictator Alberto Fujimori, Keiko Fujimori, obstructed much of the actions performed by the presidents. Fujimorists in Congress "earned a reputation as hardline obstructionists for blocking initiatives popular with Peruvians aimed at curbing the nation’s rampant corruption" according to the Associated Press. Due to broadly interpreted impeachment wording in the Constitution of Peru (1993), Congress can impeach the president on the vague grounds of "moral incapacity", effectively making the legislature more powerful than the executive branch.
On 9 December 2018 in the 2018 Peruvian constitutional referendum promoted by President Vizcarra, voters accepted three of four of the proposals in the referendum, only rejecting the final proposal of creating a bicameral congress when Vizcarra withdrew his support when the Fujimorist-led congress manipulated the proposals contents which would have removed power from the presidency. The referendum also removed the immediate re-election of officeholders. triggering the 2019–2020 Peruvian constitutional crisis. Vizcarra issued a decree that set snap elections for 26 January 2020. The representatives served out the remainder of the original legislative term, which expired in July 2021. On 9 November 2020, Congress responded to Vizcarra, voting to remove him from office based on allegations of bribery.
Following the 2021 Peruvian general election, far right parties, including Go on Country, Popular Force and Popular Renewal, gained control of Congress. An alliance led by Popular Action member María del Carmen Alva successfully gained control of Peru's Congress. After left-wing presidential candidate Pedro Castillo won the presidency, Fujimori and her supporters made claims of electoral fraud, leading obstructionist efforts to overturn the election with support of citizens in Lima. From the beginning of his presidency, Castillo was targeted by Congress, whom made it clear that they wanted to remove him from office by impeachment. On 7 December 2022, Castillo attempted to dissolve Congress, arguing that the legislative body, which had obstructed many of his policies, was serving oligopolistic businesses and had colluded with the Constitutional Court of Peru to undermine the executive branch, thereby creating a "congressional dictatorship".
Castillo’s vice president, Dina Boluarte, assumed the presidency amid the widespread protests against her government. Following her ascension to the presidency, Boluarte aligned herself with the far-right Congress. In October 2025, Boluarte was removed from office by Congress on “moral incapacity” grounds amid mounting public anger over insecurity and corruption allegations. In his position in the order of succession, president of Congress José Jerí succeeded Boluarte, initially assumed the presidency leading into the 2026 elections. Jerí became Peru's seventh president in nine years. However, in February 2026, José Jerí was removed from office by Congress for holding undisclosed meetings with Zhihua Yang, a Chinese businessman under scrutiny from the Peruvian government. He was succeeded by José María Balcázar, who was elected by Congress to serve as president of Congress and thus made president of Peru.
Return to bicameralism
In March 2024, 91 out of 130 members of Congress voted to restore the Senate with the general election of 2026. The reconstituted Senate will have 60 members each serving a five-year term. The Senate will have the power to appoint the presidents of the Central Reserve Bank and the Court of Auditors, among other offices. The Senate will also have the power of final approval over proposed legislation and will meet with the lower chamber in a joint session to approve budgets. Unlike the lower chamber, which is elected entirely by proportional representation, the Senate will have 30 members elected from individual departmental constituencies (Lima has four seats, the others one) and the remaining 30 elected proportionately nationwide.
Membership
Qualifications
Article 90 of the Peruvian Constitution sets three qualifications for congressmen: (1) they must be natural-born citizens; (2) they must be at least 25 years old; (3) they must be an eligible voter. Candidates for president cannot simultaneously run for congress while vice-presidential candidates can. Furthermore, Article 91 states that high-ranking government officers and any member of the armed forces or national police can only become congressmen six months after leaving their post. La Comisión de Ética Parlamentaria, or Parliamentary Ethics Committee, is in charge of enforcing the code and punishing violators. Discipline consist of (a) private, written admonishments; (b) public admonishments through a Congressional resolution; (c) suspension from three to 120 days from their legislative functions. Congressman also receive a one-time extra monthly salary before the beginning of their term, known as an installation expenses allowance.
Officers
Presiding over Congress
President and Bureau
The most important officer is the President of Congress who is fourth in line of presidential succession if both the President and both vice-presidents are incapable of assuming the role. The President of Congress can only serve as interim president as he is required to call new elections if all three executive officers are not incapable of serving.
The president serves along three vice-presidents who are collectively known as Mesa Directiva del Congreso, known as the Bureau in English. The three vice-presidents are not always from the same party as the president. The Bureau approves all administrative functions as well as all of Congress's internal financial policy and hiring needs. Any member of the Bureau may be censored by any member of Congress.
Executive Council
El Consejo Directivo, or Executive Council, consists of the four members of the Bureau as well as representatives from each political party in Congress which are known as Executive-Spokespersons. Its composition is directly proportional to the number of seats each party holds in Congress. The council has administrative and legislative responsibilities. Similar to the United States House Committee on Rules, it sets the calendar for the Plenary Assembly and fixes floor time for debating calendar items.
Committees
{| class="wikitable"
! Ordinary Committee
! colspan="3"| Chair(s)
! Term
|-
| Agrarian
| López Morales Jeny Luz
| width="1"
| FP
| 2025
|-
| Science, Technology, and Innovation
| Orué Medina Ariana Maybee
|
| PP
| 2025
|-
| Foreign Commerce and Tourism
| Zeballos Aponte Jorge Arturo
|
| RP
| 2025
|-
| Constitution and Rule
| Alegría García Arturo
| width="1"
| FP
| 2025
|-
| Culture and Cultural Patrimony
| Paredes Piqué Susel Ana María
| bgcolor=#0fa09d |
| BDP
| 2025
|-
| Consumer Protection and Regulatory Bodies of Public Services
| Katy Ugarte Mamani
|
| PL
| 2025
|-
| National Defense
| Karol Ivett Paredes Fonseca
|
| AvP
| 2025
|-
| Decentralization, Regionalization, Local Governments, and Modernization of State Management
| Zegarra Saboya Ana Zadith
|
| SP
| 2025
|-
| Economy, Banking, Finance, and Financial Intelligence
| Victor Seferino Flores Ruiz
| width="1"
| FP
| 2025
|-
| Education, Youth, and Sport
| Segundo Toribio Montalvo Cubas
|
| PL
| 2025
|-
| Energy and Mines
| Cutipa Ccama Víctor Raúl
|
| PL
| 2025
|-
| Supervision and Comptrollership
| Elvis Vergara Mendoza
| width="1"
| FP
| 2025
|-
| Social Inclusion and People with Disabilities
| Arriola Tueros José Alberto
|
| PP
| 2025
|-
| Intelligence
| José Cueto
|
| RP
| 2022–Present
|-
| Justice and Human Rights
| Cruz Mamani Flavio
|
| PL
| 2025
|-
| Women and Family
| Milagros Jáuregui de Aguayo
|
| RP
| 2025
|-
| Budget and General Account of the Republic
| Soto Reyes Alejandro
|
| APP
| 2025
|-
| Production, Micro and Small Businesses, and Cooperatives
| Huamán Coronado Raúl
| width="1"
| FP
| 2025
|-
| Andean, Amazons, and Afro-Peruvian Peoples, Environment, and Ecology
| Silvana Robles
|
| Independent
| 2025
|-
| Foreign Relations
| Heidy Juarez
|
| PP
| 2025
|-
| Health and Population
| Ruíz Rodríguez Magaly Rosmery
|
| APP
| 2025
|-
| Labor and Social Security
| Paredes Gonzales Alex Antonio
|
| SP
| 2025
|-
| Transportation and Communications
| Mori Celis Juan Carlos
|
| AP
| 2025
|-
| Housing and Construction
| María Acuña
|
| APP
| 2025
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable"
! Parliamentary Ethics Committee
! colspan="3"| Chair(s)
! Term
|-
| Parliamentary Ethics Committee
| Elvis Vergara Mendoza
|
| AP
| 2025
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable"
! Subcommittee on Constitutional Accusations
! colspan="3"| Chair(s)
! Term
|-
| Subcommittee on Constitutional Accusations
| Lady Camones
|
| APP
| 2022–present
|-
|}
Board of Spokespersons
Each political party in Congress chooses a Spokesperson who acts as the party leader and is a member of the Board of Spokespersons alongside the members of the Bureau. The Board of Spokespersons main role deals with committee assignments as well as the flow of bills from the committees to the Plenary Assembly.
Secretariat General
La Oficialía Mayor, or Secretariat General, is the body of personnel led by the Secretary-General. It is responsible for assisting all members of Congress with daily managerial tasks. The Secretary-General is chosen and serves under the direction of the Bureau and Executive Council.
Procedure
Committees
Standing Committees are in charge of the study and report of routine business of the calendar, especially in the legislative and oversight function. The President of Congress, in coordination with Parliamentary Groups or upon consultation with the Executive Council, proposes the number of Standing Committees. Each party is allocated seats on committees in proportion to its overall strength.
Most committee work is performed by 24 standing committees. Deputies serve as the lower house tasked with presenting legislative bills and providing oversight of the Cabinet of Peru, having a more responsibility over political objectives. Popular Force, which had dominated the legislature during the reign of Keiko Fujimori, regained 9 seats since their poor performance in the 2020 election, making them the second largest party. Popular Renewal party would also gain 13 seats while Go on Country won 7 seats.
The previously dominant center-right parties Popular Action and Alliance for Progress both lost some seats. The new or previously minor parties that had gained ground in the 2020 election, Purple Party, We Are Peru and Podemos Perú also all lost seats, while the Ethnocacerist Union for Peru, leftist Broad Front and Agrarian Agricultural People's Front all failed to win any seats. Contigo, the successor to former president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski's Peruvians for Change party, also failed to win a seat and continued its downwards trend of the previous election, receiving only around 0.05% of the vote.
{|class=wikitable style=text-align:center
|colspan=6|File:Congreso de Perú 2021.svg
|-
!colspan=2|Party
!Seats
|-
|bgcolor=#C60000| ||align=left|Free Peru||32
|-
|bgcolor=#FF8000| ||align=left|Popular Force||24
|-
|bgcolor=#000000| ||align=left|Popular Action||15
|-
|bgcolor=#0854CD| ||align=left|Alliance for Progress||15
|-
|bgcolor=#FF0C94| ||align=left|Go on Country – Social Integration Party||10
|-
|bgcolor=#00C0FF| ||align=left|Popular Renewal||9
|-
|bgcolor=#C60000| ||align=left|Democratic Peru||7
|-
|bgcolor=#00FF00| ||align=left|Together for Peru||5
|-
|bgcolor=#20488E| ||align=left|We Are Peru||5
|-
|bgcolor=#F5AD1A| ||align=left|Podemos Peru||5
|-
|bgcolor=#7026A8| ||align=left|Purple Party||3
|-
| colspan="5" align="left" |Source: ONPE , Ojo Público
|}
Public opinion
Congress is one of the most disapproved entities in Peru, recently seeing its lowest approval since the early 2000s. Following the 2021 Peruvian general election, disapproval of Congress increased dramatically, from 61% in August 2021 to 91% in March 2023 according to IEP polls.