Mauricio Mulder, one of the five Aprista representatives in Congress, has presented a bill which seeks to prevent parties without official inscription for at least three years prior from participating in elections. It seems to enjoy the support of APRA’s allies in Fuerza Popular. The bill, currently before the committee on constitutional affairs, would amend Article 84 of the electoral law.

APRA’s purpose, nothing if not transparent, appears designed to block Julio Guzmán (of the Partido Morado) and Verónika Mendoza (from Nuevo Perú) from standing in presidential elections in 2021. Mendoza was the candidate for the Frente Amplio and provided the left with its best electoral performance in 30 years. The Frente picked up 20 seats in Congress, four times APRA’s tally. Guzmán was finally prevented from standing in 2016 for failing to comply with the letter of the rules governing electoral participation.

Both are actively engaged in drumming up the requisite (very large) numbers of signatures required for a party to register for legal inscription. In Mendoza’s case, she has to do this because Nuevo Perú has split from Tierra y Libertad which is the party within the former Frente which already had achieved registration. Peru already has one of the highest barriers to registration anywhere in Latin America.