Maricarmen Alva | |
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Member of Congress | |
Incumbent | |
Assumed office 26 July 2021 | |
Constituency | Lima |
President of Congress | |
In office 26 July 2021 – 26 July 2022 | |
Vice President | 1st Vice President Lady Camones 2nd Vice President Enrique Wong 3rd Vice President Patricia Chirinos |
Preceded by | Mirtha Vásquez (acting) |
Succeeded by | Lady Camones |
Personal details | |
Born | María del Carmen Alva Prieto (1967-02-24) 24 February 1967 (age 57) Lima, Peru |
Political party | Popular Action |
Alma mater | University of Lima University of San Martín de Porres |
Occupation | Lawyer, politician |
María del Carmen Alva Prieto (born 24 February 1967) is a Peruvian lawyer and politician who served as the president of the Congress of the Republic of Peru from 26 July 2021 until 26 July 2022, and a member of the Congress representing Lima. She is a member of Popular Action.
Early life
Alva was born in Lima on 24 February 1967 and is a daughter Miguel Alva Orlandini [es], brother of a former congressman and historic leader of the Popular Action Javier Alva Orlandini. Her grandfather, José Felipe Alva y Alva was senator for Cajamarca.
She studied law at the University of Lima where she graduated as a lawyer. She obtained a master's degree in Public Management at the Government Institute of the University of San Martín de Porres.
Career
She was a parliamentary coordinator and lawyer of the Legal Management of the Social Security Normalization Office. Additionally, she was a legal advisor at the Ministry of Labor and Promotion of Employment.
For the 2006 general elections, she was a member of the Government Plan Commission on public management issues for the presidential candidacy of Valentín Paniagua. In those elections, Alva began her political career running for the Congress of the Republic for the Frente de Centro. However, she was not elected.
In the 2010 Lima municipal elections, she was elected councilor of Santa María del Mar for Popular Action. And also deputy mayor, during the administration of Viviana Roda Scheuch, for the municipal period 2010-2014.
In the 2020 parliamentary elections, she tried again to run for Congress for Popular Action, but was not elected again.
In the 2021 general elections, Alva was elected congresswoman of the republic for Acción Popular, with 25,219 votes, for the 2021-2026 parliamentary term. On July 26, 2021, Alva was elected president of the Congress of the Republic for the 2021-2022 legislative period.
As a congresswoman, she defended bills perceived as unfavourable to workers, including the extension of the workday, provisions facilitating layoffs, or the rejection of social security projects. She fought against President Pedro Castillo, seeking his impeachment.
Controversies
Alva caused controversy by verbally and physically assaulting Congresswoman Isabel Cortez of Juntos por el Perú during a session in parliament on 11 August 2022. Cortez, a former city cleaner of indigenous descent, had moved from her seat during a discussion among some parliamentarians following statements made by Norma Yarrow of the far-right Renovación Popular party (an ally of Alva's party, Acción Popular) accusing the Castillo government of "selling itself for a plate of lentils", which caused an outcry and uproar among parliamentarians. Cortez approached the seat where Alva's colleague Wilson Soto was sitting, with several congressmen also around him. When she came face to face with Alva, after a dialogue, the latter violently pulled and squeezed Cortez's arm and threatened her. They were gently separated from each other by the timely intervention of Congressman Ernesto Bustamante, who had crossed to their side of the parliament floor to prevent further interaction. After receiving strong condemnation for the incident, Alva had to apologise for her "inappropriate reaction", while the Cambio Democrático (Juntos por el Perú) party called for her to be sanctioned.
On the same day, it was also revealed that Alva had racistly insulted Congressman Ilich López by calling him a "fucking Indian". The insult was due to Alva's failure to be elected President of Foreign Relations. In addition, López stated that Alva " that he was going to destroy us and our families, that we were going to shed tears of blood", in reference to a group of parliamentarians from the Acción Popular party who were meeting secretly with President Castillo. López also revealed that Alva was very upset at the meeting that took place for the vote, banging on the door of the room and swearing.
Private life
She is married and has three sons.
References
- ^ "¡Ganó la lista 2! María del Carmen Alva es la nueva presidenta del Congreso para el periodo 2021-2022". El Peruano (in Spanish). 26 August 2021. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
- Hidalgo Bustamante, Martin (26 August 2021). "María del Carmen Alva: los datos que no conoces sobre la presidenta del Congreso de la República y sus vicepresidentes en la mesa directiva". El Comercio (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 August 2021.
- "¿Quién es María del Carmen Alva, la flamante presidenta del Congreso?". lpderecho.pe (in Spanish). 26 July 2021. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
- "Javier Alva Orlandini" (PDF). congreso.gob.pe (in Spanish). 21 October 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 October 2017. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
- ^ "¿Quién es María del Carmen Alva, la nueva presidenta del Congreso?". Caretas (in Spanish). 26 July 2021. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
- "Infogob - Candidato al Congreso en 2006". infogob.jne.gob.pe (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 September 2021.
- "Elecciones Regionales y Municipales del 2010 - Santa María del Mar". infogob.jne.gob.pe (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 September 2021.
- "Candidatos al Congreso en 2020 - Infogob". infogob.jne.gob.pe (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 September 2021.
- "Congreso 2021-2026: JNE entregó las credenciales a los 130 nuevos legisladores". El Comercio (in Spanish). Lima. 9 June 2021. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
- "Lista liderada por Maricarmen Alva fue elegida para dirigir la mesa directiva". Panamericana Televisión (in Spanish). 26 July 2021. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
- Isaac Bigio, Perú: un cuarto Gabinete para buscar aplacar a la derecha, 23 febrero, 2022
- ^ "María del Carmen Alva jaloneó a Isabel Cortez durante incidentes en el Congreso". RPP (in Spanish). 2022-08-11.
- ^ "Congresista Darwin Espinoza: "María del Carmen Alva llamó 'indio de m...' a Ilich López y amenazó con destruir a 'Los Niños' y a sus familias"". Caretas (in Spanish). 2022-08-11.
External links
- "Maricarmen Alva | Acción Popular" (in Spanish). Website of Maricarmen Alva.
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- 1967 births
- Living people
- Alva family
- Politicians from Lima
- University of Lima alumni
- Popular Action (Peru) politicians
- Presidents of the Congress of the Republic of Peru
- Peruvian anti-communists
- Peruvian people of Italian descent
- Peruvian people of Spanish descent
- Peruvian people of Basque descent
- Peruvian people of English descent
- Peruvian people of Mestizo descent
- Peruvian people of Portuguese descent
- 21st-century Peruvian politicians
- 21st-century Peruvian women politicians
- Women members of the Congress of the Republic of Peru