Without giving up their position within the public service, but also not neglecting the conduct of their political campaigns, several officials distort the effectiveness, efficiency and fulfillment of functions, according to the lawyer and analyst Pilar Callizo, because they unbalance their assumed performance. initially.
Pilar Callizo
“A person, spending computer, cannot run for office or run an election campaign, even having a position within their public function,” the specialist remarked. Although there is no law that expressly prohibits this type of activity, which is already recurrent in the country, Callizo said that for an ethical issue, only one of the two functions should be chosen.
That is the case of Rodrigo Fretes Llanes, director and private secretary of the Ministry of Public Works (MOPC), who would launch his candidacy as senator, but has not yet stepped aside from his performance in the portfolio. This without mentioning the case of the Minister of National Defense, Bernardino Soto Estigarribia, who was accused of campaigning in favor of the pre-candidate for the presidency Hugo Velázquez, with active military personnel.
Given this, Callizo stressed that officials must take into account the need to exercise the position with all the demands that merit it, which means the impossibility of carrying out proselytizing acts. The analyst asserted that these types of actions only reveal the lack of commitments that politicians have to assume the position in which they were derived.
“The function of representation is distorted and this affects the functioning of the institutional framework,” declared the lawyer, stressing in turn that the citizens themselves should sanction this type of bad procedure when voting, because by demonstrating their rejection by similar figures , officials will refrain from following these procedures.
He stressed that the best way to modify a flawed system in terms of the process of democratic formation is to sanction through the vote those who will exercise the representative function, whether uninominal or plurinominal.
Carla Bacigalupo
The Minister of Labor is currently evaluating the possibility of seeking a seat in the Lower House from the ruling movement. Bacigalupo was denounced for using her position and the MTESS infrastructure to campaign for the vice president and presidential candidate Hugo Velázquez.
On the other hand, through an audit carried out on the administration of the Minister, the purchase was determined for G. 410 million of machinery that was in a private property without use. Likewise, differences were detected between the balance and inventory of the Work portfolio, without mentioning the lack of execution of the guarantee of faithful performance of the contract for an amount of G. 1,216,974,144.
Chase Birthday
Current head of the Paraguayan Sanitary Services Company (Essap), Chase talks about the possibility of serving as a senator. His background includes a request for an interpellation for poor management at the head of Essap.
Apart from the above, he also appeared as the legal representative of a firm awarded in 2020, when the Public Function Law prohibits an official from directing, managing, advising or providing paid or unpaid services to individuals or legal entities that manage concessions of the administration at the state level.
Daniel Centurion
Appointed as Vice Minister of Political Affairs of the Ministry of the Interior, he was presented as a candidate for the Chamber of Deputies. Centurión was questioned when it was observed that he increased his fortune exponentially when he began to work in the Ministry.
In 2016, he had declared before the Comptroller General of the Republic a net worth of G. 60 million, to later declare that in 2018 his assets had grown to the figure of G. 710 million when he was already in the State portfolio. Thus, his fortune rose by more than G. 650 million.
Mauricio Espinola
Presenting his alliance with Víctor Miranda Ocampo to reach Congress, the Executive Secretary constantly carries out proselytizing campaigns, even leading political campaigns for presidential candidate Velázquez during business hours.
Despite being the right hand of Abdo Benítez, the candidate focuses clearly on Velázquez’s proselytizing campaigns, which are massively disseminated by him.
Mario Varela
Current Minister of Social Development, launches his candidacy as a senator for 2023. However, he went through various questions due to financial inconsistencies in his administration. Also, he already had irregularities during his administration as governor.
The Comptroller General of the Republic revealed inconsistencies for G. 69,119 million (US$ 10 million) within the administration of Minister Varela.
