Katherine Ampuero, a senator with Peru's Renovación Popular party, criticized her own party's strategy of using legal loopholes to allow Rafael López Aliaga to run again for the Lima mayor's office, saying that if it happens it would amount to a covert reelection.
Ampuero said the situation was something she found very uncomfortable, speaking in an interview with the radio station RPP.
López Aliaga, the mayor of Lima, founded Renovación Popular, a conservative party that has emerged as one of the leading forces in Peruvian politics in recent years.
Rubio's resignation
Ampuero also addressed the resignation of Luis Rubio, who had been running as Renovación Popular's candidate for the Lima mayoralty. She said she personally had not been told the reason for his withdrawal.
She noted that party officials had only said Rubio was dealing with a very personal matter.
Ampuero argued that Rubio has an obligation to publicly explain to party members, supporters and the wider electorate why he stepped aside. She said this was a matter of respect, since he had been a candidate not just for the party but for the whole electorate of Lima, and that he should account for his decision.
Legislative powers and rising crime
Beyond the municipal dispute, Ampuero addressed the stalled request for special legislative powers, warning about delays in formally presenting the bill to Congress. She stressed the urgency of acting given rising crime.
She said insecurity was costing six human lives every day in Peru, and that for her the process was taking far too long because it concerned citizens' lives, adding that some issues could no longer wait.
Police corruption claims
Ampuero, who chairs the Justice Commission, also discussed the roles of the armed forces and the National Police. She defended the current constitutional framework, saying policing authority must remain with the police, since shifting it elsewhere would go against the Constitution.
She said what was not being confronted with the directness and honesty it required was corruption within the police. Ampuero said that when criminal gangs are found to include police officers, extortion victims who go to report crimes sometimes discover that police are colluding with the very gangs extorting them.
Arriola's future questioned
Ampuero also addressed the continued tenure of Óscar Arriola, the National Police's commander general, saying authorities should offer to resign given the lack of results.
She said no law was needed to invite someone to step down if they were not doing their job well, and that Arriola should put his position up for review given the results seen so far. She added that it had felt like a mockery to watch Vladimir Cerrón, founder of the left-wing Peru Libre party, effectively make light of the police force's performance.
