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Lima (AFP) – The citizens of Peru are called to vote this Sunday in the elections for mayors and governors, a contest in which the municipal seat of Lima attracts the most attention.
The three favorite candidates for mayor of Lima for the 2023-2026 period are retired general Daniel Urresti, ultra-conservative businessman Rafael López Aliaga and former soccer player George Forsyth.
These elections arouse little interest among Peruvians, according to polls, and threaten to “deepen the division of the country,” which has had five presidents in five years, according to political analyst Hugo Otero.
Since there are no political parties [fuertes]chiefs will be elected [caudillos]Otero told AFP.
An Ipsos poll earlier this week showed that 57% of voters had not yet decided who to vote for.
“Honestly, I wouldn’t vote for anyone for myself, all the candidates are bad,” María del Carmen Ávila, a 64-year-old housewife, told the AFP agency.
“I don’t know who to vote for, I don’t like going to vote, but it’s a duty,” said Cecilia Yep, a 53-year-old merchant.
Urresti (28.4% in the latest Ipsos survey) promises to “recover” security in the capital, López Aliaga (26.7%) a “shock” of investments and Forsyth (19.9%) to close down stores selling articles stolen, among other proposals.
The Lima mayor’s office is a consolation prize for these three candidates, who in 2021 competed for the presidency and lost to the then almost unknown leftist rural teacher Pedro Castillo.
Corruption allegations cast a shadow over the mayor’s office in Lima
Like the country, Lima has not been exempt from political turmoil and suspicions of corruption.
Former Lima mayors Susana Villarán (2011-2014) and Luis Castañeda (2003-2010 and 2014-2018) were in preventive detention for the scandal involving the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht.
In addition, Mayor Jorge Muñoz, whose term was due to expire in December 2022, was unexpectedly removed from office in April. His fault was having governed the capital and, at the same time, retaining the leadership of the state drinking water company in Lima.
Almost 25 million Peruvians are called to the polls to elect 25 regional governors, 196 provincial mayors and 1,694 municipal mayors, according to the ONPE electoral body. Voting is mandatory.
The 84,232 polling stations will work 12 hours in 11,299 polling places, ONPE said.
Voters will not be required to wear masks, unlike the 2021 election, which coincided with a spike in Covid-19 infections.
