Twenty years after decentralization: this is the situation of regional governments and their governors

Twenty years have passed since the beginning of the process decentralization which sought to grant autonomy to regional governments in terms of power, competence, and government spending. The 2022 regional and municipal elections are a suitable scenario to analyze how these sub-national institutions are ahead of the election of new authorities for the next four years.

From the National Assembly of Regional Governments, the paper “Fiscal Decentralization in Peru: Current Situation and Proposal for Tax Participation” states that the long-awaited decentralization is “at a point of stagnation and its implementation shows serious problems.” They note that one of the difficulties is the dependence on economic transfers from the central government, which does not allow for equality between regions.

“Decentralization and regionalization were long-awaited reform However, it generated interest in the early years; this expectation did not produce the results that the regions would like. In any case, we have the transfer of some elementary functions, such as health care and education, but the deepening of economic development and significant social changes have remained unfinished,” says Jose Kehlin, academic coordinator of the Institute for Ethics and Development (IED). ) Antonio Ruiz de Montoya University.

This is why the National Assembly of Regional Governments is proposing to change the way in which transfers of resources from the central government are established to ensure that regional governments have a higher level of predictability about their future revenues, and that their budgets are set using technical and reasonable criteria that make them competitive.

missed target

In essence, the main goal of decentralization (and hence the creation of regional governments) was bring the state closer to the people in order to better respond to their needs in accordance with the collective realities of their territorial areas. For the Citizens Proposal Group in their paper Towards a New Decentralist Narrative it hasn’t been achieved in twenty years the process began and, conversely, “only a large amount of resources were distributed, which, given the margin of appreciation and failures of state control, turned into mouth-watering trophies of microenergy,” the study notes.

“It’s connected with poor performance which had some regions that suffered not only from a lack of technical capacity, but also from clear cases of corruption. All this has forced the national government to finally slow them down, and they lack autonomy,” he says. Joseph Colin.

The lack of capacity is reflected, according to experts, in the low level of management, and the consequences are already visible today. Comptroller General of the Republic, Nelson Shaq, warns that as of June this year, there are 2,350 paralyzed jobs in the regions, equivalent to 29 billion salts. In addition, investments for this year barely exceed 10 billion soles.

Corruption factor

Corruption it is a burden that affects all levels of government and hence the process of decentralization is not immune to it. While this is not a determinant factor hindering the building and strengthening of a genuine process of regionalization and decentralization; it is necessary to observe the work of subnational authorities through the transparency of their efforts.

It should be remembered that by 2021 the Comptroller General of the Republic reported a loss of SGD 24,262 million due to functional irregularities in the public administration system. Of this figure, losses at the level regional governments amounted to SGD 8,842 million, which is 21.9% of the budget executed this year.

As the 2022 regional and municipal elections take place on October 2, twenty-five governors will leave office on December 31, all of whom will face tax investigations. Everything today, without exception, have two to a maximum of 62 active investigationsThis is reported by the Liber Center of the Peruvian Institute of Press and Society (IPYS).

Out of 557 investigations only at the level of governors over the past 4 years, 70% are related to corruption-related crimes. Governors of Pasco Pedro Ubaldo Polinar; and from Loreto, Elisban Ochoa; they account for the most cases: 60 and 62 cases, respectively.

Ubaldo Polinar has 2 cases under official investigation, 24 at the preliminary stage and one with an indictment. Incompatible negotiations, abuse of power and embezzlement are some of the crimes attributed to him.

Alleged crimes of influence peddling, usurpation and illicit enrichment are attributed to Elisban Ochoa who year after year accumulated complaints from the beginning of his reign.

Balthazar Lantaron, Governor Apurimac, registers 35 investigations for influence peddling, misuse of office, concussion, illegal appointment to public office, embezzlement, incompatible negotiations and influence peddling.

Messiah Guevara Amasifuen, the regional governor of Cajamarca is one of the regional authorities with the fewest tax investigations. He has five cases: four of them in Cajamarca and one in Lambaeque, of which four have preliminary cases.

Diego Masera, CEO of the Peruvian Institute of Economics, blames a large number of tax investigations on the political organizations themselves. “These political organizations should theoretically nominate trusted or competent people who can holistically manage the fate of their respective regions. Another aspect that works against this is the very system of corruption that is institutionalized in subnational governments. It is difficult to overcome this inertia,” he says.

with preliminary conclusion

This year, the governors Mother of God, Luis Hidalgo; and from Huanuco, Juan Alvarado, a fugitive from justice. Governor Lambayeque, Anselmo Lozano has served his house arrest and is now continuing his trial at large.

On November 27, 2021, the judicial authority sentenced the former governor of the region to 24 months of pre-trial detention. Arequipa, Elmer Caceres Lika for the alleged crimes of a criminal organization and against public administration in the form of active and passive bribery to the detriment of the state. For this reason, the National Electoral Jury removed him from his duties as a regional representative and decided to withdraw his powers.

Region Ancash, once again faced with the fact that it was left without regional authorities. Juan Carlos Morillo Ulloa faces preventive detention from December 2020 for alleged corrupt practices in the construction and equipment of facilities. COVID-19 in two hospitals in Ankashi.

Wilmer Dios Benitez, former Governor Tumbeswas sentenced to 4 years in prison for aggravated conspiracy in a case brought in 2011. Today he is wanted, and the Interior Ministry is offering 20,000 soles for information about his whereabouts.

This media outlet sought to gather the opinion and balance of the President of the National Assembly of Regional Governments (ANGR), who is the regional governor Cusco, Jean Paul Benavente Garciabut this was not possible despite coordination with his press office.

As for the president of the ANGR, According to information from the Liber Center, it has 24 tax investigations. Decentralization specialist Jorge Lira from Arequipa notes that the sanctioning role of control and justice institutions must be effective.

“The lack of effectiveness of state control bodies, as well as legislative and judicial power, is part of the severity of crimes, because it has been proven that those who commit this type of crime are punished late, badly and never. faults.”

So 25 governors complete their cycle twenty years after the completion of the decentralization process. Find out more about the new candidates for regional governments, their history and government plans on the website informvote.jne.gob.pe