Lima mayor candidate threatens JNE president with prison

Rafael López Aliaga, leader of the Renovación Popular party, threatened Roberto Burneo, president of Peru's National Elections Board (JNE), saying he would pursue him until he was imprisoned. The threat came after the JNE ruled that López Aliaga cannot assume the mayoralty of Lima for the 2027-2030 term because he already held that office in the immediately preceding mandate.

Speaking at a political event in the Lima district of San Miguel, López Aliaga said he would keep Burneo clearly in his sights in Congress, the judiciary, the Constitutional Power and civil power. He warned that Burneo would end up in prison not only for what he had just done but also for what he did or failed to do on April 11, referring to delays in setting up major voting centers during the general elections.

López Aliaga accused Burneo of being an accomplice to a corrupt mafia that had kidnapped Peru. He claimed the electoral process had violated the popular will and said irregularities affected both the first round of the presidential election and voter participation in Lima and abroad.

The politician said Peru was being ruined by people like those validated by the ONPE and the JNE who stole the popular will twice, calling it a grave crime and the worst crime in a democracy. He stated that they had stolen the presidency from him twice, failed to steal the mayoralty once, and now wanted to steal it again, but that they would not let it pass.

López Aliaga also attacked Labor Minister Juan Sheput, who had written on X that López Aliaga would be left "without rope and without goat" following the JNE ruling. López Aliaga told Sheput he did not enter politics to steal from anyone and called him selfish and indecent.

The JNE ruling also affects former mayors who ran as councilors and sought to return as mayors after a previous term. Sheput argued that López Aliaga's earlier resignation from the Senate meant he would be affected by the decision, adding that a disorderly process from the start brings consequences for candidates and voters.