Popular Action: Sluggish Answers, Silence, and Demands for Dismissal in Response to Complaint Against Darwin Espinosa | principle

More voices A popular act (AP) Ask Congress Darwin Espinosa — accused of using resources from his office to promote his own territorial movement — was ousted from the Lamba bench. Meanwhile, there has been only silence and lukewarm responses from his parliamentary group. And only Elvis Vergara asked him to step down as the camp's spokesman.

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Meanwhile, an AP spokesperson downplayed the complaint and welcomed that “anything related to any anomalous symptoms should be investigated.” The legislator said the public ministry had conducted an inquiry to verify his office address.

On another occasion, he promised to request a 15-day suspension of the salaries of the workers in his office employed by “Punto Final” collecting signatures for the political group Atlante Uncash, through Giovanni Forno, a senior congressional official.

He said he was seeking the suspension “due to irregularities” as pointed out in the report.

“They are [15] Some days they were doing other work. That's why, when filming, they do something that I don't need to explain to them. “They told me they were doing activities outside of office hours.” He insisted.

Later, he rehearsed the answers using the printer in his office and accessing the Renick system. He pointed out that this was a data check before the campaign on cold weather in the hilly parts of the country.

Later, he confirmed that his party's general secretary, Juan Jose Abbott, had asked him for money to celebrate the inauguration.

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They want him off the bench

In a conversation with El Comercio, former AP congressmen Víctor Andrés García Belaunde, Edmundo del Águila Morote and Yonhy Lescano considered Espinosa to be ousted from the bench; However, they estimated that 'The Children' would not take action against their colleague.

As for Garcia Belante, the AP spokesperson “should have been kicked out of the party a long time ago.” He insisted that Espinosa and five other congressmen were expelled in October for being involved in a corruption conspiracy, but that the resolution was invalid because they did not register their separation from the National Election Arbitration Board. Not registered in ROP.

The former congressman urged AP members to expel Espinoza from the bench or remove him from the post of spokesperson. He insisted that if he is expelled, there is no possibility of forming another group in the Congress, but if he leaves of his own free will – he can do so.

“Mr. Darwin Espinoza has no sense of dignity. For him, the absence of shame is natural, and the absence of it is part of his daily behavior. […] The other members must separate him or become accomplices in any crime he commits. […] If they don't do it, it's because they've been blackmailed by them,”He noted.

In his view, the Ethics Commission should either suspend him or, through a constitutional complaint, the Subcommittee on Constitutional Impeachment should initiate a process aimed at removing him from office.

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In turn, Del Aguila Morot recalled that on October 14, when he was secretary general of the AP, the party expelled Espinoza and confederated five other congressmen as 'The Children'. According to him, the action is void because the eviction resolution was not registered in the ROP because the representative withdrew the request.

The former general secretary also has no hope that the party will oust Espinoza from his posts. He also opined that the eight congressmen who resigned from the alliance last August “should not have done so” because, because of that decision, they became owners of 'The Children' group.

“If they had stayed, they could have taken action within the bench, according to the rules, but by resigning they have lost all possibilities.” He finished.

The congressmen who resigned last August were Maricarmen Alva, Ilyich Lopez, Silvia Monteza, Edwin Martinez, Carol Paredes, Jose Arriola, Juan Carlos Mori and Carlos Alva.

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For his part, former Congressman and Andhra Pradesh presidential candidate Yohni Lezcano also believed that Espinosa should be ousted from the bench; However, he reckons that his colleagues in the camp, who have come together as 'The Children', will save him.

According to Lezcano, Espinoza should be expelled for “committing a very serious crime.” However, he believes that Axion Popular is completely “deteriorating and in dire straits” and that “nothing will happen” against Espinosa and the other 'children'.

“They do everything by lip service because the leaders are their friends.” […] The bench protects them, the Congress protects them. In another country they would have been immediately removed from Congress, but as we have seen there are 'cheap salaries' and Congressmen who have committed crimes and nothing happens to them. […] “There is too much tolerance for criminal corruption in this Congress” He finished.

As you may recall, Lezcano has been an Andhra activist for many years. However, he resigned from the party in December last year.

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Sluggish responses and silence

The AP bench – consisting of Darwin Espinosa, Luis Aragon, Wilson Soto, Raul Dorotio, Jorge Flores Ancachi, Marlin Portero, Luis Cordero John Day and Elvis Vergara – contained secrecy and contradictions in some of their statements. matter. At last he asked his colleague to step aside as the spokesman for the Populist Action Committee.

Apart from Luis Cordero John Day, they are being investigated for the 'Los Niños' case, which is an open investigation into Patricia Benavides' corruption plot.

In a conversation with this newspaper, Jorge Flores Ancachi initially said that “a meeting has not yet been called to speak”, but after a few minutes said that the meeting will take place this Wednesday, April 17.

Finally, he points out, Espinosa “is bound to go out and demarcate.”

“That's his responsibility and he has to answer for his actions.” Defined

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His version contradicts the version given by Wilson Soto a few hours later. The Member of Parliament assured that it was held today [martes 16] A brief meeting, but they did not explore the topic.

Soto pointed out that Espinoza told him that he had submitted a bill to abolish regional movements, and that it was ironic to promote his own group in front of him.

He then said, “Even if one person in the family has ambitions, it will be their brother's problem.” After insistence by the press, Soto said that Espinosa should explain the case. “There is an inquiry and the Ethics Commission has also called it, he should cooperate,” he noted.

Finally, he downplayed the seriousness of the case and the urgency of the decision, arguing that he had a busy schedule.

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For his part, Vergara asked Espinoza to leave the post.

“I urge Congressman Darwin Espinoza to allow alternate speakers to lead the bench temporarily to avoid further damage to the image of our House of Representatives to guarantee an impartial and thorough investigation.”Vergara said on social networks on Tuesday, April 16.

The legislator added that if he does not act transparently and selflessly, he will assess his permanency in the eight-member Popular Action Bench.

case

Many questions weigh on Darwin Espinosa, not just because of the 'Los Niños' case. Last Sunday in “Punto Final”, the AP spokesperson announced that the political group associated with him, Adelante Áncash, will use public resources and congressional staff to collect signatures for the registration of the regional movement.

Sunday's program revealed that Espinoza's workers used a printer installed in the parliamentary office and 10,000 bond sheets provided by Congress to print membership cards for the regional movement.

In addition, parliamentary staff visited Ancash on weekdays to collect signatures and used access to the Parliament-provided National Identity and Citizenship Status (Reniec) system to verify that the data on people affiliated with their group was correct.

According to Renick, last March alone, 1,851 tips were made from the Akiopopulist Congress account. So far this month, the number has already crossed 1,150.

The organization told El Comercio that each of these consultations costs Congress S/ 1.60. That means the MP has squandered S/ 2,961 in March and S/ 1,840 so far in April.

Likewise, he described the agreement with Parliament as “for approximately 70 accessions,” which had been requested by senior officials, among them Darwin Espinosa.

On the other hand, this newspaper verified that Wilfredo Valencia, Franco Mora Contreras, Elizabeth Castillo and Hector Camacho worked in Espinoza's office in March. Their salaries exceeded S/20 thousand.