Election 2022: Piura will choose between a man convicted of libel and a man under investigation for corruption in the second round.

After Election 2022official count of the National Bureau of Electoral Processes (ONPE) at the 98% level shows that Reinaldo Hilbk Guzman, regional branch; D Louis Neira Leonfrom the Contigo region will go to the second round to determine the position of regional governor Piura.

In this report, learn about the background and political history these candidates reported or chose not to report to the National Election Jury (JNE) as part of his appeal to the regional government of St. Piura.

Piura: Reinaldo Hilbk

Reinaldo Hilbk Guzman60 years old, process engineer from the University of Piura. Among his work experience, he stated that he was the manager and director of three agro-industrial companies, the president of the Piura Chamber of Commerce and the governor of the region during the period 2014-2017.

However, he did not disclose that he was president of the board of directors of the Alto Piura (Peyhap) Special Irrigation and Hydropower Project during the administration of Javier Atkins. Because of his role in this executive branch, the Department of Public Administration is investigating him for allegedly conspiring to approve additions and extend the term of the Camargo-Correa consortium, resulting in a million-dollar loss to the state.

In an explanatory note posted on his Facebook account, Hilbk defends himself against this investigation by pointing out that his role on the board of directors was advisory, not administrative; that is, he did not make decisions and did not manage the budget. “We did not have an executive function, that is, no decisions were made, arbitrations, conciliations, extensions of terms, additional work, etc. were not approved. The position that I held did not touch Peihap a penny.”

He adds that he cooperates with the work of the prosecutor’s office, but through his defense he asked for an extension of the investigation for only 12 months, since since 2018 there has been no formalization regarding him.

Last year, the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office of Sullana also initiated an embezzlement investigation when he was suspected of approving a pay increase for Subregion staff, Luciano Castillo Colonna, according to the Convoca investigation portal.

The most challenging phase for Hilbk as governor was during the Niño Costero phenomenon in 2017 due to the natural disaster caused by the flooding in Bajo Piura, but above all due to emergency management. Despite this, their candidates in affected areas such as Katakaos, El Tallan and Cura Mori were given the mayoral post.

Regarding the tragedy that happened on March 27, the candidate said the following before the elections: “We fought the river for three months, improving the defense by the same peasants, but the flood on March 27 was extraordinary. beat nature. Despite our best efforts up to that point, we couldn’t take it anymore. It was helpless to see all the power of nature that no one could control. I witnessed this disaster when many people lost everything”.

In 2014, Hillbk won the regional government with over 30% of the valid votes, he had a majority in the Regional Council, and a large percentage of the mayors were from his Nordic Democratic Union (NDU) movement. Four years later, it was launched by the new movement “Regional Unity”, which did not win the first round, did not receive a majority in the regional legislature and won only 27 city halls, that is, less than 50%.

Piura: Luis Neira

Louis Neira Leon He is a 42 year old lawyer. In his resume, he indicated two work books; was Councilor of the Municipality of the Province of Piura in 2015; and landlord in the Piura Regional Government in 2016. This is in the period Reinaldo Hilbk as governor and then Oscar Miranda as provincial mayor, respectively, both with the Northern Democratic Unity Movement (UDN).

“I was lucky enough to be a government official, managed, once again an official. We’ve always, all our lives, walked out the front door. local interview.

Louis Neira Leon He did not declare income from his private law practice, but he did declare income from the rental of property.

The candidate Neyra was convicted in 2010 of the offense of defamation, after the sentence was stipulated, he served the sentence dictated by the judge. In addition, in the 2018 regional and municipal elections, he participated in the vote for the city hall of Piura with the “Regional Forces” movement, but failed to defeat Juan José Díaz Dios from the “Region for All”.

Four years later, he founded and leads the Contigo Region movement, which is already involved in investigations into alleged corruption in the Sullana prosecutor’s office. Prosecutor Luis Ramos Rioja is investigating the suppliers of the municipality of Sullana who might have received the jobs. Among them is Darwin Kouinde, who won the post of mayor of Ayabaka with the Contigo region.

Regarding this investigation, the candidate stated the following at the end of the debate organized by JNE: “No one can point the finger at me for any act of corruption. I can speak for myself and not for other people. I have led a flawless life in both my professional and personal life. Mr. Quinde is part of the alliance we have formed with you, Region, but until proven otherwise, he is innocent.”

Before closing this report, the ONPE counter indicates that Reinaldo Hilbk received 227 thousand 145 votes, and Louis Neira, 167 thousand 864 votes. The participation of Piura reaches 79%, and 21%, that is, 300,000 Piura people, did not go to the polls.

Piura: How do the people of Piura vote?

Fernando Huaman, public opinion specialist at the University of Piura, argued that the results showed that Piura was not interested in the campaign due to the saturation of national political information. So they chose candidates they already knew from the last election.

“No candidate stood out from the others, so 30% of the votes were not exceeded. Hillbk ran a good campaign, so the townspeople remembered him for his work, and not for what happened to El Niño Costero,” he said.

Similarly, Juana Huaco, an expert in public administration at the University Piura, pointed to the saturation of candidates for the regional government, a total of 12 people. However, in this second round, he emphasized that the most useful thing for candidates is to show their technical equipment so that citizens can make a decision.

“We ask candidates to submit projects to us, what will be done and how; and before the citizens, the responsibility to know how to choose who offers us the most viable jobs and those that can be done.”

Hillbk acknowledged that people are “tired” of politics and that he will focus on convincing voters who voted for other options with his proposals, and that as part of this work, meetings are being held with other regional forces to form electoral alliances.

“People are tired of politics and campaigning is difficult, we are waiting for official results to hold meetings,” he said.

Piura: Problems in the region

The second regional round will take place 30 days after JNE announces the winners on October 2nd. One million 400 thousand people of Puran will again go to the polls to decide the fate of the region.

Among the challenges to be faced Reinaldo Hilbk or Louis Neira builds a hospital of high complexity, reducing vulnerability to the El Niño phenomenon, combating insecurity and guaranteeing access to drinking water.