Lima Mayor Luis Castañeda has called on candidates campaigning to replace him to refrain from making unrealistic promises, particularly with regards to crime, state news agency Andina reported.
Elections for the mayor of Lima are to be held in October. Candidates for the position have focused their campaigns largely on problems related to crime and transportation in the Peruvian capital.
Castañeda, who is a front runner for Peru’s presidential elections in 2011, said that many of the solutions proposed simply won’t work.
“What I fundamentally want is for them to not make promises that don’t respond to reality,” he said. “What they should do, and I’m free to say so because I’m not a candidate, is to talk about what they are going to do in the city that is concrete.”
He pointed out, for example, that the municipality does not have control over the national police.
Castañeda has held meetings with candidates to provide economic and financial information on the municipality, paper Peru.21 reported.
The field of candidates is being led by former congresswoman and two-time presidential candidate Lourdes Flores. Other candidates include Susana Villaran, Humberto Lay, Fernando Andrade and Luis Iberico.
