The Congressional Subcommittee on Constitutional Accusations (SAC) has filed two constitutional complaints – DC 352 and DC 469 – against the President of the National Elections Jury (JNE), Jorge Salas Arenasin its final stage to accuse him of the alleged crimes of aggravated collusion and incompatible negotiation.
On Thursday 18th the president of the SAC, Lady Camonesfrom Alianza Para el Progreso (APP) delegated these cases to two of his colleagues who are part of the chorus that claims there was electoral fraud in the 2021 elections: Arturo Alegría, from Popular Force (FP) and José Cueto, from Honor and Democracy.
They are going for Jorge Salas and Fernando Tuesta
Alegría will be in charge of the final report of DC 352. This is an accusation that was presented in March of last year by his colleague from Avanza País, Rosselli Amuruzdue to the hiring of the political scientist Fernando Tuesta in the JNE and the appointment of lawyer Vicente Sánchez Villanueva as deputy to former judge Jorge Rodríguez Vélez.
The qualification report prepared by Camones and presented in April of this year, declared DC 352 admissible only in the case of the hiring of Tuesta Soldevilla. The other part of the investigation was dismissed.
The ruling based on Amuruz’s complaint states that the JNE hired Tuesta’s services between 2021 and 2022 without proving that he had more than three years of experience in electoral matters.
This statement is based on a report from the Office of Internal Control of the Comptroller General of the Republic, which, according to Tuesta Soldevilla, does not take into account the track record that the political scientist can demonstrate.
The political scientist’s experience in electoral matters is public knowledge. Tuesta was head of the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE) For four years, he was an advisor in Parliament, he was an observer of elections abroad, he was a member of the Advisory Council of the Constitutional Commission of Congress on electoral matters and he was president of the High Level Commission for Political Reform. However, the control body would have overlooked this information.
The case is now in the hands of Fujimorist Alegría, a congressman who is co-author of a bill to reform Article 99 of the Constitution to subject electoral authorities to impeachment and political trial (see breakdown).
December 12, 2022 When Congress discussed the advancement of electionsthe Fujimorist took advantage of the situation to demand the resignation of Jorge Salas Arenas at the JNE and on March 22 of this year he requested to expedite the constitutional accusation against the magistrate because the Registry of Political Organizations (ROP) accepted the registration of Antauro Humala’s party.
That is, the congressman has a strong opinion against the head of the JNE and within 15 business days he must present the final report on the constitutional complaint of Amuruz against Salas Arenas for collusion.
With the version of Walter Ríos
DC 469 entrusted to legislator Cueto is based on a constitutional complaint filed on March 25 by the Attorney General of the Nation, Juan Villenaagainst the head of the JNE, for alleged incompatible negotiation.
The investigation is based on the version of the Former judge Walter Ríos, involved in the case of the White Collars of the Portwho sent a letter to the Public Prosecutor’s Office in 2019 stating that two years earlier he had had a telephone conversation with Salas Arenas, who had recommended his former advisor Pavel Vladimir Cárdenas to be hired at the Superior Court of Justice of Callao.
In 2017, he was the president of that court and Salas Arenas was the supreme judge. The Public Prosecutor’s Office is investigating whether former advisor Vladimir Cárdenas asked the magistrate to exercise his alleged influence over Ríos and whether he promised him any benefits.
This inquiry was also seen in the National Board of Justice (NJJ)where the case was archived. Salas Arenas claimed that this charge was due to the fact that in 2018 he presided over the Special Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court that extended Ríos’ preventive detention to 36 months.
Now that case is in the hands of Congressman Cueto, who publicly questions Salas Arenas. On July 3, the parliamentarian blamed the alleged 2021 electoral fraud in an interview with Expreso. “He exercised electoral justice in a biased manner,” he said. Despite these statements, Camones had no qualms about appointing him as delegate.
It is not subject to impeachment
The members of the JNE are not subject to constitutional charges. That is why Fujimorism is promoting a law to modify the Magna Carta and make that possible.
The legalistic approach of Congress with Salas Arenas is that it proceeds with DC 352 because the jurist is also a supreme judge on leave who represents the Judicial Branch in the JNE and the Constitution does contemplate accusing these high officials.
