The historical leader and one of the founders of Popular Action, Javier Díaz Orihuela, spoke with Peru21 about the current situation that his party is experiencing and the solution to its exclusion from the electoral elections.
How has the National Elections Jury made this decision to exclude the party from the 2026 elections?
This is tremendous news for Acción Popular, which has a well-known background of neatness in its electoral processes. This disability is a very hard blow because we understand that it has repercussions in the sense that he cannot present candidates for the presidency or candidates for senators and deputies. And this is something extremely delicate because, if the law of 500,000 signatures (for re-registration) is going to apply, Acción Popular has 220,000 members, but achieving 500,000 signatures is an impossible thing.
Have you seen anything similar in the life of Acción Popular?
Well, no. That has never been presented in Popular Action. The delegation system has never been used. But since the law now allows delegation, then it has led to the current leadership opting for the delegate modality.
Do you think that was a mistake?
Of course. This was approved in a national plenary session and there were seven dissenting votes. A reconsideration of the vote approved by delegation was requested and, logically, the current board, in majority, did not decide. So we are in this dramatic, difficult, complicated situation, because tradition has not been observed or respected.
In recent years, Acción Popular has had many problems…
Yes, it’s true. What happens is that the previous JNE also had Acción Popular for eight years without being able to elect its directors. The JNE is also responsible for this situation in a party that has had four presidents of the Republic. The concrete fact is that Acción Popular cannot present candidates for the presidency, much less senators and deputies.
Would you blame the current board?
It is well known that the delegate modality was sponsored by the president of the party, Mr. Chávez, who is a lawyer. The general secretary is also a lawyer. They did not listen to the seven members of the plenary session who opposed it in the first vote, and who presented a reconsideration of the delegation modality agreement at the next national plenary session.
They can only run for regional and municipal elections. It’s the only thing they would aspire to…
The only way that Acción Popular has, legally, is to participate in regional and municipal elections. And as one of the founders of Acción Popular, I have the necessary solvency to be able to ask my coreligionists and the party leaders to choose a candidate for the Metropolitan Municipality of Lima.
Who would you propose?
To Víctor Andrés García Belaunde. I propose it as the living founder of the party.
Should this leadership be changed?
The responsibilities that fall to the current directors are evident, but I do not believe that we need to renew the board.
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