Political parties, Congress and regional governments top the list of distrust in Peru.

According to the latest INEI technical report Citizens’ Perceptions of Governance, Democracy and Trust in Institutions, political parties are the institution that Peruvians trust the least, with a distrust of 93.1%, followed by Congress of the Republic (91.2%) and Regional government (81%). Closely, provincial municipalities with 80.6%.

This study, published in February 2023, measured the period from July to December 2022, before the rains and floods that caused the social crisis in Peru.

Confidence level political partiesSince 2019, this figure has been over 90% since 2019, according to INEI. Public administration, which is also assessed in the study, indicates that Piura is the region where the highest percentage of the population considers public administration to be poor or very poor. piura This, in turn, is one of the regions most severely affected not only by the current rains and floods, but also by the Coastal Niño of 2017, from which it still has not fully recovered … 6 years later.

“There has been an institutional crisis where the citizens, and especially the people of Piura, do not trust their authorities. However, natural events such as Cyclone Yaku have shown that along with this mistrust there has been inefficiency and deception, because the public believes that all the work that was carried out as part of the reconstruction with changes did not serve to solve the drainage problems caused by these unforeseen rains. , says Fernando Huaman, public opinion expert and director of the Public Opinion Research Center at the University of Piura.

IN Liberty, another one of the regions hit by rain and flooding, political scientist Richard Tapia argues that the INEI survey “does not stay small” in measuring Liberteños’ dissatisfaction with authorities. “The report does not match the perception of citizens. As for how the congressmen and the regional government of La Libertad behaved, this distrust has grown exponentially,” he says.

In Trujillo, Hector Acuña and Enrique Alva, deputies elected from the region, took part in a forum on the impact of Cyclone Yacu and the prospects for the region, but at the end of the meeting they were pelted with eggs by the citizens. “Even in Futurean area that always takes the worst part in front of these huaicos, [los pobladores] face the mayor and call him to account in the middle of the roadway, pointing out that [el desastre] it is their responsibility for wasting money from work that would help mitigate the effects of landslide victims,” adds Tapia, who also argues that the violence caused by this negative perception does not lead us to any solution.

What do you think of congressmen and ministers?

“In general terms,” says Fernando Huaman from Piura, “there is no trust in the authorities.” In a region that is still waiting for a complete reconstruction after the events 2017 Coastal childthe public opinion expert notes that the memory of the inaction of the authorities of that time still lives in Piura.

“It was perceived in Piura that the central government directed everything on the basis of Reconstruction with changesHowever, coordinated work with professional associations and universities has been delayed. If today the authorities want to start restoring the confidence they don’t have, they must be able to make the leap from politics to the technical side and include in their teams people who are benchmarks of their knowledge to address the causes of poor river management. , Pyura and a job that has no chance of draining the water in the city,” Waman says.

Libertad thinks congressmen “are elected only to change their lives and the lives of their families,” says Richard Tapia. “They do not even remember the region, and they are not interested. The same thing happens with the ministers who come to the region. Citizens are tired of seeing them at protocol meetings, at press conferences, signing contracts or at working lunches. the reality of Trujillo and La Libertad remains the same. At the moment, over the past 10 years, it has not changed,” he says.

Tapia reiterates that the violence caused by Trujillo’s resentment is reaching dangerous levels. “Here we do not support any violence. This should encourage us, both authorities and citizens, to wet our beards, because there must be a reflection on both sides.”