What sanctions can Anibal Torres have if the JEE confirms a violation of electoral neutrality?

Last Tuesday, September 6th, Special Electoral Jury (JEE) of Central Lima decided to send to the oversight coordinator a file containing a complaint against the head of the PKM, Anibal Torres, and ministers Felix Chero (Justice), Alejandro Salas (Labor), Betsy Chavez (Culture), Kurt Burneo (Economics) and Roberto Sánchez (Foreign Trade) for alleged non-compliance The principle of selective neutrality.

A citizen filed a complaint Claudia Maria Geronimo Paredesa native of Trujillo, and, after his referral, a two-day deadline was set for the report on the case and, if necessary, to proceed with appropriate action.

Reason for complaint

According to Claudia Geronimo, Torres Vazquez would violate the principle of neutrality elections during a press conference held last Sunday, 4 September. On this occasion, the head of the Council of Ministers criticized the leader of the Alliance for Progress, César Acuña, after some audio recordings were leaked in which he asked the former President of the Congress, Lady Camones, to give priority to the Alto Trujillo bill in his interests. candidate for the regional government of La Libertad.

With this in mind, Torres suggested that any citizen could challenge Acuña’s candidacy, as it would be an egregious fact.

“As regards the behavior of Cesar Acuña, any citizen can contest his/her candidacy for the Electoral Jury of Trujillo.. The violation of the Electoral Law is so egregious that it must be eliminated quickly,” he said.

Later, he pointed out that Trujillo’s electoral jury would have to remove the APP leader from the election campaign, which will take place in October this year.

“My request to the Democratic congressmen to resolve this problem created in the board of directors, which, in our opinion, should step aside and Trujillo’s electoral jury must separate Acuña’s candidate”, he added.

Did Anibal Torres violate the principle of neutrality?

Executive Director of the Peruvian Institute of Electoral Law, Jose Manuel Villalobosconsidered that the head of the PKM, Anibal Torres, would violate the principle of neutrality, since he not only referred to the candidacy Cesar Acunabut instead asked a special electoral jury to exclude him from the campaign.

“The President of the Council of Ministers even called on the jury to withdraw the candidacy of Mr. Acuña, which is Executive interference in the electoral process and that is why the special electoral jury of Lima Centro is also called upon to open the procedure for sanctions against the principle of neutrality, which Mr. Anibal Torres would violate,” he said. News extension RPP.

In the same vein, electoral experts, Roy Mendoza D Jose Tello I agree that Torres Vasquez would violate the above principle.

“Let there be violation and the opinion expressed by the prime minister, in a certain way, influences the course of the elections. Every public sector official must remain neutral, neither to the benefit nor to the detriment of those involved in the electoral process,” Mendoza said in a conversation with the RPP.

“There Anibal Torres has several violations of the principle of neutralityTello added.

What sanctions could threaten Anibal Torres?

In accordance with Roy Mendozathe sanction that Anibal Torres could receive would be limited to a wake-up call without serious consequences.

“This is a warning, a wake-up call, as happened with Ollanta Humala in 2016. At best, it can be a fine. This is what is set by the rules. charges,” he explained.

A few hours before Jose Manuel Villalobos referred to the case of the former President of Congress Lady Camones, which faces a sanctions process for a possible violation of the rules of neutrality. The lawyer clarified that, in addition to exhortation, the Special Electoral Jury can send a copy of its resolution to Congress so that it can see some other sanction.

“In the case of the Special Electoral Jury, if it finds that she has committed a breach of neutrality, at the most in accordance with the rules, what the special electoral jury would do is admonish her not to commit another violation and send copies to the authority to which she belongs, so that the latter punishes her. But since the ethics of the Congress has already opened the procedure for sanctions, this step has been advanced, and the ethics has already opened the procedure against him, ”he said.