In the first weeks of November 2021, the portal El Foco published that the president of the Congress, Maria del Carmen Alva, he had hired his former university colleague Carlos Cabieses Bertoni in his office, who, according to the journalistic medium, does not register academic studies at Sunedu and works as a “principal advisor.” According to the Transparency Portal, his position is “technician.”
Months later, in January 2022, ATV revealed that the third vice-president of Parliament Patricia chirinos placeholder image, promoter of the failed presidential vacancy, hired Gloria Lara Ávila in the position of “professional” at the Citizen Liaison Office, which depends on the Third Vice Presidency of the Legislature. Lara Avila She is a former official of the Callao Regional Government, which belonged to Chim Pum Callao; and the Public Ministry asks for her 10 years in prison for the crime of intentional embezzlement, the television channel said.
When the Executive makes questionable designations, the Congress and other entities of the State – with good reason in the majority of cases – criticize and begin to supervise. But what happens with the hiring within Parliament, especially with the trusted personnel of the congressmen? What entity is in charge of verifying that everything is in order?
“The Human Resources Department is the one that must apply the rules. If it does not do it correctly, the Office of Internal Control (of Parliament) must intervene and for that there must be some type of complaint. Human Resources is the body responsible in the first instance ”, he explains Cesar Delgado-Guembes, specialist in parliamentary law, in dialogue with La República.
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“The Office of Internal Control is the one that should ensure that the recruits comply with the job profiles to occupy positions both in parliamentary offices, in parliamentary groups, as in commissions where there are trustworthy personnel ”, he details. It specifies that the Comptroller’s Office could act if the Board of Directors requests it.
To its turn, Jose Cevasco, former senior official of Parliament, indicates in conversation with this wording that “Human Resources must verify the requirements” and if you want to evaluate the hiring made by legislators, it is necessary to differentiate “between the formal requirements established by the Congress in terms of academic degrees, experience, and the ethical part ”.
“So, it is very likely that all the workers who are in Congress meet the formal requirements, but we do not know to what extent they are friends or acquaintances (of the congressmen),” he adds. Regarding the case of the advisor hired by Chirinos, he points out that “It still has the principle of the presumption of innocence; she has expedited rights to be hired by the State, the norm allows it ”.
And what are the requirements to hire trusted advisors or personnel?
According to article 22 of the Internal Work Regulations of the Congress, to act as trusted personnel of the Parliamentary Organization a series of requirements are required for the position of the “professional” category (such as that of advisor), others for the position of the “technical” category and a couple for the position of the “auxiliary” category.
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For the professional category, the person must prove a university professional degree, have specialized studies (master’s degree, full technical study or two diplomas) and have work experience of no less than three years. “In the modules of trusted personnel of the ordinary commissions, at least two of the advisor positions must be filled by a professional with a university or master’s degree related to the commission’s specialty,” the document continues.
And for the category of technician, the citizen must accredit completed technical training or incomplete university (at least six academic semesters completed). In addition, you must have complementary studies in the field and experience of at least two years, related to the position to be held
Finally, for the auxiliary position, the person must demonstrate that they have complete high school and work experience of no less than two years.
Parliamentary Service Statute
The specialist in congressional issues César Delgado-Guembes also called for the Parliament restore the Statute of the Parliamentary Service, which was suspended in 2018 during the Fujimori administration Luis Galarreta when he was president of the Legislative. This is the framework for a career in parliamentary service “with guidelines for promotion and progression”, and which regulates appointments and hiring.
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“Galarreta manages to pass a parliamentary provision that suspends the Statute of the Parliamentary Service; therefore, it gives the possibility of hiring in a generic way to whoever they want, because the statute that established the rules for career progression no longer governed. We are demanding that the suspension be annulled from the year 2018 ″, says Delgado-Guembes.
“If that happens with the parliamentary service, obviously the congressmen have much easier to hire what they think in terms of parliamentary organization, which is where the trusted personnel of the legislators works,” he adds.
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