Presidential candidate Ollanta Humala and his left-wing Gana Peru party have suspended the membership of a newly elected congressman in Madre de Dios region after the latter was arrested, daily El Comercio reported.
Eulogio Romero was arrested Monday in criminal court in Tambopata, Madre de Dios region, during his hearing on embezzlement charges. The six-year-old case involves the loss of a specific lot of lumber that belonged to the state natural resources institute, Inrena.
“Ollanta Humala ordered that he be suspended during the investigation and trial,” said Freddy Otarola, a lawmaker for Gana Peru. “And if the judiciary dictates a sentence, he will be expelled from the party immediately.”
Humala has said he was unaware that Romero had charges pending.
“We didn’t know [anything], because he had run for regional president of Madre de Dios and, at that time, there was no indication that he had pending charges,” Humala said.
Romero was elected to Congress during the general elections April 10. While no party obtained a majority in the 120-member parliament, Gana Peru won the biggest block with 46 seats, followed by Keiko Fujimori’s Fuerza 2011 party with 38 seats.
Humala and Fujimori will face each other in a second round vote on June 5 for Peru’s presidency.
