Omar Awapara, Secretary General of the Transparency Civil Association, explained the reasons why the current Congress of the Republic is one of the most discredited institutions and with the least approval.
“I think that this particular Congress has been characterized by having in its ranks congressmen with almost criminal behavior. We have seen cases of poor wages, of a rapist congressman, the ‘children’ and in addition to this with the feeling that in the Commission of Ethics is not sanctioning these offenses, in addition to the fact that there is no accountability exercise before the citizens. I think that largely explains the discredit that Congress has today,” Awapara told Awapara. Peru21.
“Especially in the last year, Congress has engaged in legislative action where it responds or there is a clear line that privileges the interests of illegal, informal sectors, from illegal mining, informal transporters, informal education, which really help citizens have this perception that we are being represented by members of a criminal organization and not by members of political parties that are owed to citizens,” he adds.
The Transparency expert considers that the main people responsible for the deterioration of Parliament’s reputation have been the political parties, entities in charge of filtering and proposing the candidates that make up the institution.
“I believe that the main person responsible is the political parties. The role that political parties play in their role of mediating between society and the political arena is to bring the best possible cadres to representation. As a citizen, one has the obligation to have an informed vote, but many times that offer that we have to face in front of the voting card is well limited in terms of suitability,” he said.
“An urgent task, and one that explains the low reach that political parties have in Peru, is that they are not doing that task, they are not doing that exercise of looking for those who are the best and who can represent that sectoral interest, any kind of idea or preference among citizens,” he adds.
As is known, the murder of Andrea Vidal, a former Congress worker, brought to light the alleged existence of a prostitution network in that branch of the State, high officials involved, and a poor staff hiring scheme.
From Parliament, they have not only denied the facts, but they have minimized them to such an extent that the president of the Legislature, Eduardo Salhuana, did not hesitate to put the scandal behind his back and travel to China despite the criticism and demands that take concrete actions in the face of these facts.
Citizens, however, have a different perception and the national Ipsos survey for Peru21 confirms this: 81% believe that such a prostitution network did exist in Parliament, and only 10% believe that the complaints are an isolated event.
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