Corruption is one of the biggest concerns of Peruvians, second only to anxiety as the country heads toward general elections on Sunday.
Since 2016, Peru has suffered from severe political instability due to repeated corruption scandals, with eight presidents serving consecutive terms. Currently, our country ranks 130th out of 182 countries in Transparency International’s corruption index.
To find out how some of the 35 presidential candidates would address corruption if elected, see: Peru Report We spoke with Dr. Joseph Pozsgai-Alvarez, a Peruvian political scientist specializing in anti-corruption and public integrity at Osaka University.
Populist promises and unrealistic plans
Rafael López Aliaga, a former far-right Lima mayoral candidate who is under investigation for corruption, has proposed increasing prison sentences to life for public officials found guilty of corruption.
According to Pozsgai-Alvarez, “It’s populist rhetoric.” He said that in addition to the constitutional problems with the López Aliaga proposal, “given the burden of proof, it is difficult to believe that any court would impose a life sentence for anything other than the most serious corruption cases.”
In other words, according to the professor, life sentences would probably not be applied effectively.
“As a result, Lopez Aliaga will be scoring political points without actually achieving anything,” he added.
Lopez Aliaga, who topped the polls for months before plummeting last week, also promised to reduce the number of ministries to reduce the likelihood of dishonest practices.
According to Pozsgai-Alvarez, the proposal is a “ludicrous” proposal on par with Wolgang Grozo’s idea to use lie detectors for high-ranking officials.
Read more: What to expect from Peru’s general election on Sunday
Right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori (daughter of former dictator Alberto Fujimori), who has finished runner-up in the last three elections, has promised to strengthen existing institutions such as the National Agency for Transparency and Access to Information (ANTAIP), which has been operating with relative success since 2017.
ANTAIP is an agency appointed by the Minister of Justice and is designed to advise on transparency policies, oversee institutions, suggest potential sanctions, and launch sensitization campaigns.
Pozsgai-Alvarez believes the solution is to reimagine institutions rather than strengthen them. “National authorities must be reborn as autonomous organizations in accordance with the Constitution, and this is no small task,” he said.
“Once an agency exists, it is difficult to make major changes, so I don’t think there will be enough political capital to entice actors in this direction.”
Fujimori, who was previously indicted in the Odebrecht region corruption scandal, also announced he would ban already sanctioned companies from obtaining public contracts.
Pozsgai-Alvarez believes that while “politically feasible,” the bill “requires a sufficiently autonomous body to carry out its duties.”
“In the event of a Peruvian occupation of the country, it is more likely that we will see such powers used to punish companies that do not follow political directives,” the scholar added.
Peru’s former central bank director, Alfonso López-Chau, has put forward a plan to mimic Mexico’s massive anti-corruption system, which is layered across multiple institutions.
This authority will be politically autonomous and will consist of a prosecutorial body with investigative powers, potentially in collaboration with an administrative court, an audit administration and a civilian watchdog.
In Pozsgai-Alvarez’s opinion, the Mexican example was a “complete failure” and replicating it in Peru remains unrealistic.
Carlos Alvarez, a comedian known for impersonating politicians and running a strictly security-focused platform, has proposed a plan to create a new state agency solely dedicated to anti-corruption.
Pozsgai-Alvarez said voters should “always be skeptical” of promises to create new specialized agencies.
According to the scholar’s research, three similar attempts to create new institutions since 2000 have failed due to deliberate structural weaknesses and pushback from high-profile politicians when investigations began.
There is no improvement without stability
Fozguy-Alvarez believes “several candidates may honestly have good intentions,” but said their overall lack of experience in state affairs and party politics “will not allow them to maintain integrity at the center of the next administration.”
He argues that the constant rotation of presidents has historically hindered opportunities for real change when it comes to fighting corruption.
““What we have been missing over the past decade has been sufficient political stability to allow actors to invest sufficient resources into actionable integrity measures,” he said.
“Stability alone is not enough, but it is necessary.”
